AR: Exploring the Galaxy
by Katkiller-V
Summary: The Galaxy of 2182 is a dangerous place, made all the more so by the war that has disrupted business as usual in the Terminus and Traverse. This story will cover the changes to canon in the Another Realm universe, elaborate on topics such as the Blue Suns War, and expand upon the backstories of various characters.
1. Introduction

I don't own Mass Effect, or anything to do with it. Unfortunately.

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 **AR: Exploring the Galaxy**

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 **Introduction**

People seemed to very much enjoy the Author's Fun Facts from Arrival and Terminus, which were used to give the stories a larger sense of place in the modified Mass Effect universe that I'm working with. This story is largely going to be both a collection of those AFF's, as well as an expansion of their ideas.

This story will be used only to indicate the state of the galaxy at the end of 2181 and beginning of 2182, so roughly one year prior to ME1 and corresponding to the initial portions of AR: Ronin.

Exploring the Galaxy will be divided into sections, each covering a different topic. As the AR stories will almost all be taking place in the Terminus and Traverse, rather than the more often traveled Citadel space, it will primarily be focused on those areas.

As I stated in one of my Author's Notes from Terminus, I am drawing some inspiration from Logical Premise's Of Sheep and Battle Chicken universe. I am not going anywhere near as dark as his, though things aren't going to be nearly as sunshine and rainbows as in the games. Areas where I directly use any of his ideas, or expand upon them myself will be noted in the end of chapter notes. Everything else, I believe, is from my own head.

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 **A note on Galactic Locations**

I've never been the largest fan of how the galactic map was worked out, and have also never really found one that I liked enough to use. The overall sense of things will remain in terms of where the home worlds and core spaces of each species are, but I'm shifting some of the relays around. (Example: From most maps the only way for the Hegemony to get to the Citadel is through Alliance space. This is obviously wrong because the Batarians were on the Citadel far before we were and would have hopefully noticed another species flitting about right in front of them)

This may take a bit of mental gymnastics to work out, but here is how I picture the ME galaxy.

 **Outer Citadel Space** : A bit of misnomer, as this region is essentially the Asari Republics, though it also includes the Hanar and Elcor home worlds. Technically covers the entire northwestern 'quadrant' of the galaxy from Illium to the Citadel. In reality, this region of space has fewer dense star clusters reachable by Mass Relays, and much of the rim remains unexplored.

 **Inner Citadel Space:** Covering the 'slice' of the galaxy between the Citadel and Sol, this dense region includes the Turian Hierachy, Vol Protectorate, and Salarian Union. Tuchanka can also be found here. Thanks largely to Salarian wanders in the pre-Rachni era, has the fewest inactive relays of any region and the most colonized worlds.

 **Alliance Space:** The area usually considered to be the 'core' of human controlled space, including Sol and Arcturus systems. Escaped prior colonization despite its nearness to the Citadel only because of Citadel laws preventing relay activation.

 **Hegemony Space:** The south-eastern Rim of the galaxy dominated by the Batarian Hegemony. Noted for having very few prime element zero sources forcing the Hegemony to import much of the critical resource.

 **Skyllian Verge:** Formerly part of the Attican Traverse, this was once a prospective Batarian colonization zone before it was 'given' to humanity by the Council. Consists of several high-density star clusters connected by relays to the Alliance, Hegemony, and Traverse.

 **Attican Traverse*:** By Alliance declaration (not backed by the Council) an area of human interest, in reality this region of space is as lawless as the Terminus. Covers the eastern block of the galaxy between the Alliance, Hegemony, and the Terminus proper. The preferred location for human colonists who want nothing to do with the SA and are willing to risk the region's dangers.

 **Dark Rim*:** The rim of the galaxy bordering the Attican Traverse. Possesses a few Hegemony colonies but is largely dominated by pirate groups who do not answer to any of the Terminus Warlords.

 **Terminus Systems*:** The north-eastern block of the galaxy, notable for being dominated by Omega and it's collection of primary relays. Despite its size, it is difficult to navigate as there are only three active prime relays (Illium, Theodosis, and Hawking Eta) that lead into its interior, and once there travelers must pay frequent tithes to remain unmolested. While incomers may use secondary relays to make the trip, it is a far longer and more dangerous process.

 **Perseus Rim:** Formerly Quarian territory, borders the Terminus along the galactic edge and has relays leading both there and to Outer Citadel space. The Geth have, to date, destroyed any organic attempting to reach the 'inner' colonies of their former masters, but have not interfered with Terminus groups encroaching on a few of the outermost systems.

* - These regions of space do not obey Citadel law when it comes to relay activation. New star clusters are opened on a fairly regular basis by independent exploration groups who sneer at the Citadel's paranoia.

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 **Index**

 **Section 1 - The Blue Suns War** : A breakdown of the events and factors leading up to the war, notable battles that occurred, and the fallout still permeating in its aftermath.

 **Part 1** : Blue Suns Leadership, Pre-War Plans, The Illium Operation

 **Part 2** : The War in the Terminus

 **Part 3** : The War in the Traverse

 **Part 4** : The Aftermath

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 **Section 2 – The Dark Side of the Galaxy:** An analysis of the various Warlords who hold power in the Terminus, Traverse, and the Rim. Covers the differences in culture between those who live in these areas of space compared to those on the Citadel, as well as inter-species romance. Will also go into the economies, militaries, and the unique types of warships built there..

 **Part 1** : The Terminus; History & Inhabitants

 **Part 2** : The Lady Warlord, Yan T'Ravt

 **Part 3:** The Traverse; Spheres of Influence

 **Part 4:** The Steel King, Heinrich 'die Waffe' Bauer

 **Part 5:** Omega; Layout

 **Part 6:** The Capitals: Illium & Xentha

 **Part 7:** The Warlords

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 **Section 3 – The Hegemony:** The rise and fall of the Batarian Hegemony in Citadel space, and its actions as an independent power. Batarian culture, religion, and military strength will be touched on, alongside a few of the dominant personalities.

 **Part 1:** Castes, Government, and the Pillars

 **Part 2** : Political Groups and Notable Families

 **Part 3** : A Culture of Posture, Inter-Species Relations

 **Part 4** : Government & MIlitary

 **Part 5** : Rise and Fall of the Hegemony

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 **Section 4 – The Citadel:** Will focus mostly on how the Ciatdel interacts with the Terminus, Traverse, and Hegemony. A few major players will also be covered, such as humanities golden trio (The Butcher, the Survivor, and The Lionness).

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 **Section 5 – Miscellaneous** : Reserved for anything that doesn't quite fit, such as technological notes on things like Tech Mines and Power Armor.

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\- More will be added as I find inspiration/receive requests that intrigue me -

I should be adding everything that was in my Author's Fun Facts at some point, plus the expanded info, but if there is anything you want to know in specific feel free to ask.

Thanks,

Kat


	2. The Blue Suns War: Pre-War Plans

**Section 1: The Blue Suns War**

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 **Chapter 1: The Blue Suns**

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On it's surface, the Blue Suns War can be traced to a mere handful of responsible people. However, once you begin to dig more deeply, you begin to uncover facts that show a disparate organization that often struggled against itself merely to survive. Indeed, the sudden rapidity of the group's collapse stunned many in both the Terminus and Citadel space. It was, after all, effectively a nation unto itself. Entire worlds were run by its administrators and guarded by its members, and its fleet had sufficient vessels to fight a competent war against even the Hegemony.

But for all of its bluster and shows of strength, the Blue Suns were little more than a paper tiger. To fully understand why such a massive organization could collapse in a matter of months, we must examine both the topography of the region it occupied, as well as its own leadership and internal failings.

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 **1.1 The Blue Suns Leadership**

From an external point of view, the Blue Suns were run by an Executive board consisting of three individuals. Each had their own areas of expertise, and in theory were required to come together to work out what was best for the group as a whole.

 **Exec. Administrator Santiago** – Managed the 'civilian' half of the organization, such as planetary administrators, drug and slave runners, reputable businesses, and so on. A bureaucratic genius and vicious negotiator, was personally a coward and relied on paid informants to keep tabs on the other executives.

 **Exec. Commander Dal'serah –** In command of all Blue Sun forces in the Terminus as well as the elite 'Legionnaires'. Formerly a midcaste officer, he was exiled from the Hegemony for killing the Harath'krem of his lover. A competent if unremarkable commander, he excelled at set-piece battles but struggled when it came time to improvise.

 **Exec. Admiral Vosque –** In command of all Blue Sun forces in the Traverse as well as the Blue Suns primary battle fleet stationed in the Theodosian system. A former alliance fighter jockey, he joined the Blue Suns for the pay, and was largely responsible for the creation of their fleet. Highly ruthless and cunning, but a poor administrator.

Beneath them were the Captains. One Captain was, on paper, assigned to each world with full control of the Blue Sun forces assigned there. In actuality, some of them were 'floaters' who commanded their specific forces and roamed the stars as their paychecks demanded. Thanks largely to measures put in place by Zaeed Massani before he was removed, most of the Blue Suns officer corps remained fairly competent even in the years after.

While the theory may have been sound, in reality Santiago effectively had full control over the group. His position ensured that he controlled the payroll and financing of the other Executives' forces, and without his guiding hand they would find themselves without the capital to keep their people compensated. Unfortunately for the Blue Suns, this largely left them at the mercy of a man who was petty, vain, greedy, and incredibly paranoid about his personal safety.

The Blue Suns 'capital' shifted on nearly a monthly basis, and even with modern technology the administration could never quite keep up with its leaders movements. Dal'serah and Vosque would often find themselves out of communication with Santiago for weeks at a time with no idea where he was, or when their budgetary proposals would be approved by his staff. Ship construction in particular was badly effected, with Vosque eventually forced to submit a decade's worth of plans simply in the hopes that _some_ of them would be approved.

While in many groups this may have led to the pair of them teaming up against their 'boss', the situation was further complicated by the fact that Dal'serah and Vosque cordially loathed one another. In the months leading up to the war, it had actually been more than five months since the three had even all met with one another in person. Hardly the state of affairs one would wish on the eve of battle, though at the time they had little cause to worry.

From their point of view, the various other Warlords relied too much on Blue Sun muscle to fight their wars for them. Their only real worries were Aria T'loak and Jona Sederis. The former could be handled simply be laying low and being, outwardly at least, subservient. The latter however, was a larger problem.

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 **1.2 The True Sons Plan**

 **The Initial Moves**

The True Sons were originally a small, Turian founded, Omega based gang that focused its rhetoric on anti-Asari sentiments. While this would seem especially stupid with Aria T'loak effectively ruling the station, the core leadership of the group was careful never to directly target her in their speeches or attacks. Over time, they slowly became one of the better organized groups on the station and began to look into expansion.

As one might expect, they found significant support from groups that opposed Aria, though they remained careful to preach patience and to find lesser Asari targets to go after. The few cases where members went off the rails were dealt with savagely in house, their remains offered to the Pirate Queen in apology.

The group came to the attention of Dal'serah when they began to make inroads on Illium, particularly amongst Nos Astra's alien indentured servants and those confined to the city's northern slums. Without bothering to contact Santiago, whose location he was unsure of regardless, he made overtures to the gang's ruling bosses. His section of the Blue Suns would offer training, advisers, weapons, and supplies in exchange for the True Sons specifically targeting his largest rival: Jona Sederis.

Only too happy to accept, the True Sons shifted their timetables upwards.. and ultimately overreached by attempting to expand too quickly into Nos Astra proper. The Asari dominated population, led by their own underworld gangs, quickly rose up to smack down the racist intruders. The situation only grew worse for the Sons when the Eclipse itself joined the fray, leaving their operations little more than a bankrupted husk after a mere month of fighting.

 **Dal'serah's Plans**

If the utter failure of his cat's paw upset him, Dal'serah did not show it publicly. This may have been because he was also occupied with his second, concurrent plan, one that would remove both the hated Vosque and the sniveling Santiago and leave him in full control of the group.

His careful recruitment of specific Batarian exiles allowed him to place people he, relatively, trusted in places of power. In particular, he created his own 'inner circle' of mid and high caste exiles to broach his plans to. Never one to limit himself to a single goal, the resultant concepts were both simple and complex.

First, his primary rivals would have to be killed. The Eclipse was always a worry, as they dominated much of the 'western' Terminus and had the wealth and fleet to counter-act his plans. Further, Sederis had made her hatred of him well known after a team of his Legionnaires killed oner of her lovers during a raid on Omega.

The True Sons would, hopefully, deal with the Eclipse, but eliminating his fellow executives would be more difficult. Utilizing the very nation that had thrown him out would be ideal, as if the Hegemony eliminated Vosque and Santiago he could then either support Khar'shan, or rally the Blue Suns against the 'perpetrators' depending upon which would benefit him the most.

The second step would be dependent upon the outcome of the first.

A war against the Hegemony would see him relocate the Blue Suns into the traverse entirely, and attempt to inspire the wayward Batarian colonies in the Dark Rim to join him. As he, along with most others in the galaxy, had a low opinion of the Hegemony's military strength he expected to be able to hold them off until they sued for peace, leaving him with his own de-facto empire in the Traverse to rival Aria's in the Terminus.

In contrast, he could simply betray his own organization. Either to the Hegemony, should they promise him sufficient rewards, or to Aria, whom he could trust to provide vast sums of credits. Utilizing information collected by his inner-council, in particular by Yi'ren Ul Shaaryak, he could easily make vast fortunes of credits selling out said secrets. Giving his followers tithes would barely put a dent in what Aria or the Hegemony would pay for such information, after which he could simply buy his way back into the Hegemony or simply found his own, loyal group.

Unfortunately for him, the True Sons' ineptitude forced him to improvise and adjust his carefully laid plans.

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 **1.3 The Illium Operations**

 **The Ul-Shaaryak Takeover**

Commander Chacksin ul Shaaryak was the appointed liaison between Dal'serah and the True Sons, and thus the first to report of the Illium operations failure. Worse, he also indicated that the group had had a change of heart and were intending on withdrawing from the corporate world. Knowing that he was unlikely to be able to find a new cat's paw, and that he was running out of time before Santiago and Vosque began to wonder where his money was going, he instead moved to covertly take over the group directly. Lacking the strength to fight back, the True Sons capitulated on Omega without more than a token effort.

Yi'ren Ul Shaaryak was sent to Illium, along with her core team, and proved to be far more diplomatic than most gave her credit for. Easily co-opting the gang bosses there, she began re-organizing them into two separate groups. One was compromised of, essentially, cannon fodder recruited from Omega. They would be little more than chaff thrown in the way to obscure what her real forces were doing. The Second was her personal Blue Sun soldiers along with the surviving 'veteran' True Sons. Many were sent to Omega to be trained by Chacksin in anti-asari tactics, while she began to put her plans into motion.

Slaves were purchased from the Terminus and smuggled on planet, where they were cleaned up and sold as indentured servants to corporations nominally owned by, or allied to, the Eclipse. When enough were in place, and she had a sufficient number of trained soldiers, the information would go public. I-Sec would be forced to move in, likely drawing it into conflict with the Eclipse. In the chaos that followed her people would wait for Sederis to expose herself before moving in, leaving the Eclipse leaderless and embroiled in a fight that could very well bring the Republics in against it.

Unfortunately for her, overeager members of her decoy force became involved in attacks on Asari run shops and bars in the seedier regions of Nos Astra, culminating in an attack that accidentally targeted her own estranged daughter. Said daughter's ward, and Chacksin's brother Xerol, thus became involved in an increasing movement to slap down the True Sons once and for all.

Initially the fighting was confined to his private security forces against the gang, the situation turned when veteran True Sons not loyal to her betrayed her location to Xerol Shaaryak. The resultant attack left her dead and firmly brought both I-Sec and the Eclipse into action against the True Sons. Worse, word reached Dal'Serah that a Council Spectre was en route to the world at the Republic's request.

 **The Beginning of the End**

Before any effort could be made to stop him, Chackin Ul Shaaryak took his personal unit and what True Sons agreed to go to Illium. Dal'Serah's belated effort to corral him only alerted Santiago and Vosque as to what was occurring. A hurried communication between the two humans followed, before the Executive Admiral set out to track down Dal'Serah.

Vosque's flagship caught up with his quarry one jump away from Illium, while the latter's cruiser was discharging its drive. Not giving any warning or reason, the battlecruiser opened fire at maximum range, killing Dal'serah and his primary staff before they were aware that they were under attack. With that completed, the pair managed to get a hold of Chacksin where they blasted him for his personal attack on Xerol Shaaryak's compound and demanded that he at least salvage something from the entire affair by bringing them Sederis, alive or dead.

What neither was aware of was that Chacksin was carrying a full copy of Dal'serah's intelligence on the Blue Suns, and when he was killed in the Eclipse's headquarters the information was taken by his daughter before Spectre Tela Vasir could locate it.

Blissfully unaware of what was coming, Santiago and Vosque agreed that Captain Trask of Omega was their best candidate to replace Dal'serah. They would give Chacksin a few weeks to make his move, and meet with Trask the following month. By the time the meeting date came, and went, both Santiago and Trask would be dead, and the Blue Suns would be fighting for their lives.


	3. The Blue Suns War: Terminus Operations

**Section 1: The Blue Suns War**

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 **Chapter 2** : **The War in the Terminus**

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 **2.0 Why They Fought**

Before we go into the war as it began in the Terminus, one additional thing we must examine is why there was an actual war at all. The Blue Suns, after all, were merely a mercenary group and you would think that many of them would simply have switched sides or surrendered when the opportunity presented itself.

From that point of view, it could be considered remarkable that as many of them fought as did so. The reasons that they did are many, but can be boiled down to a two key points.

First, and this is extremely important to remember, is that there is no such thing as 'decency' in the Terminus or the Traverse. Nor are there any limits on what we might consider 'war crimes'. People who surrender in a fight are usually, in a best case scenario, implanted with neural control laces and enslaved for the rest of their lives. That is assuming that the people who have won they fight have the resources to do so and are in a fairly lenient mood. Otherwise they can simply expect to be executed out of hand. Any Blue Suns that did surrender were essentially gambling with their lives that the people moving in needed extra guns enough to spare them.

Second, the Blue Suns largely maintained their ranks through cults of personality at the captain rank. For example, Tarak's people on Omega were fanatically loyal to Tarak himself more than they loyal to the Blue Suns as an organization. This maintained tight levels of unit cohesion, decreased the chances that members would back-stab one another to increase their personal cuts, and ensured that anyone who wanted to sell the group out would have plenty of informants ready to turn them in. A side benefit was that it massively decreased the number of people that Santiago and the other Executives needed to directly control and worry about. So while the Blue Suns most assuredly did lose people to desertion and defection, in most cases so long as the unit's Captains resisted the majority of their troops would resist with them. However, once their leader was dead it also meant that units tended to disintegrate quickly, as Aria T'Loak and Yan T'Ravt both exploited.

Those points being said, they usually applied only to the combat arm of the Suns. Most of the civilian wing, the administrators, mechanics, smugglers, slavers, etc., simply worked out deals with the larger groups moving in and switched to whom they reported to. For the most part they were entrenched enough that replacing them would have been too much of a bother even for the more ruthless Warlords.

Overall, perhaps sixty percent of the Blue Suns combat arm in the Terminus resisted and subsequently fought. The remaining forty percent either deserted, defected, or surrendered against overwhelming force.

The numbers in the Traverse are much higher due to the differing situation there, with over ninety percent remaining loyal to Vosque and fighting. This will be explored in the next chapter.

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 **2.1 Internal Collapse**

 _September 25th, 2180_

The war, for all intents and purposes, began on the Twenty Fifth of September, 2181. That was the day when Zaeed Massani and a group of freelance mercenaries cornered Vido Santiago on the world of Delarathus and burned him alive in his own shuttle craft.

Fortunately for Executive Admiral Vosque, the news did not immediately go public. Unfortunately for him, it now left him as the sole controller of the Blue Suns. While this was, not by itself, a bad thing, the circumstances surrounding the position could not have been worse as far as he was concerned.

His killing of Dal'serah had been anything but a private affair, and the rumors about why it had happened spread faster than he could attempt to broadcast the actual reasons. To no one's surprise the vast majority of said rumors where that he had done so out of racial hatreds, and his practical decision to simply destroy the Batarian's cruiser rather than risk boarding it did not help his defense. Racial tensions between the group's Batarian and Human members quickly heated up a result, with the few Asari and many Turians caught in the middle.

And now with Santiago dead, much of the infrastructure needed to keep the Suns running broke. Governors and Administrators installed by Santiago had no interest in reporting to Vosque, many of them believing that he had orchestrated the attack in order to gain sole control over the group.

Sending an emergency message to Omega, he brevet-promoted Tarak to Executive Commander to placate the Batarians and more honor-bound Turians. A second message was broadcast to a few of Santiago's former inner circle, civilly requesting that they nominate one of their own to replace him. If they couldn't decide, he would allow Tarak to pick from a pool they put forwards as a demonstration that he was not attempting to unilaterally seize power.

At the recommendation of his Asari lover, he also made sure to send copies of both dictates to all of the group's Captains. And, for a few days at least, it seemed to calm things down.

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 **2.2 The Eclipse Begins**

 _September 28th, 2180_

Elements of the Asari Republic's Intelligence branch in the Terminus, given the information on the Suns by Nynsi Shaaryak, began a mass broadcast of the data three days after Santiago's death. Data centers and news groups on both Illium and Omega offered live streaming of the information as hundreds of extranet sites offered copies of the information at no cost.

Having already had more than a week to review the information and maneuver her forces accordingly, Jona Sederis launched her first attacks within minutes of the first transmissions. Her first priorities were the Illium Run, the chain of systems between Omega and Illium, and the Blue Suns holdings on Omega itself. Of secondary concern was the Blue Suns' stronghold in the Eagle Nebula and

The fighting in the Run was, by anyone's consideration, a massive success. Utilizing their perfect knowledge of Sun's patrol patterns and security keys her fleet and commandos quickly seized their rival's discharge stations and mining operations in that area. In many cases the Blue Suns were not even aware that they were fighting until Eclipse soldiers blew open their doors and massacred them. What few fleet assets that the Suns had in the area were likewise destroyed or routed, fleeing chaotically towards Omega.

On Omega itself, however, Jaroth was not as successful as his mistress. This was largely not through any faults of his own, and more to do with the location. The systems in the Run had long been dominated by the Eclipse, with only the Blue Suns managing to make any cuts into that area. But on Omega there was not only the Eclipse and Blue Suns, there was also Aria's forces, the Blood Pack, and countless smaller gangs.

Initially Jaroth was able to seize several blocks worth of territory, including one of Tarak's principle hanger bays. But before he could make further progress he was forced to stop the various advances in order to shore up the Eclipse's principal territory against spoiling attacks by the Blood Pack. Worse, a group of smaller gangs led by the Talons and True Sons both began launching their own attacks. As one would expect, their efforts were anything but coordinating, creating mass chaos throughout many of the station's levels. The Talons in particular suffered when Tarak unleashed his personal Legionnaires in a counter-attack on them, the strike killing many of their leaders and leaving them reeling.

Any hope that that success could be replicated was dashed when Aria, who had finished her own examination of the data and had her hackers slice the Blue Suns' network to confirm it, entered the fray. Her forces, joined by the White Tigers and Brotherhood of the Fallen, ambushed Tarak and his legionnaires while they were withdrawing from their attack on the Talons. While the Captain was able to escape, he lost many of his elites in the process.

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 **2.3 First Battle of Omega**

 _October 2nd, 2180_

Aria's broadcast joined the countless messages pleading for help that were reaching Vosque in the Theodosian system. To say that the Executive Admiral was overwhelmed would be an understatement, and he wasted several days trying to work through just what was happening. Eventually he was able to make the only decision that he could, ordering all Blue Sun forces in the Terminus to retreat to his position in the Traverse. From his point of view, Aria's entry effectively doomed any hope that they had of simply fighting off the Eclipse and retaining some territory in the Terminus.

While workable in theory, in reality everyone knew that there simply weren't enough ships to transport all of the mercenaries even in peace-time. Seeing an opportunity for herself, Captain Jedore of Korlus made her own broadcast, declaring the Eagle Nebula to be her territory and that she would form it into a redoubt. If sufficient forces joined her they could stand off any attempted assault and negotiate to form their own power block there.

This gave the Suns two avenues of retreat, and they began to flood in either direction. This massive movement of shipping and personnel brought about the first major space battle of the war, occurring in the Omega system While most of the local Blue Suns shipping in the Omega system had already fled to either the Eagle Nebula or through the Relay chain leading to the Traverse, there were still ships hidden in secure hangers waiting for a chance to flee.

That chance came when Captain Sarval and his fleet attempted to make an FTL run through the Terminus' principle system to reach Vosque. Standing in his way were the combined fleets of Aria and the Eclipse, as at this point the other warlords had yet to formally make any moves one way or the other. When the battle began what ships they did have largely moved into Omega's shadow to remain safe behind its guns and barriers.

 **Blue Sun Forces:** 2 Battlecrusiers, 43 assorted cruisers, 16 destroyers, 5 pocket carriers, 76 assorted light vessels

 **Aria's Black Fleet*:** 3 Dreadnoughts, 4 Battlecruisers, 64 assorted cruisers, 53 destroyers, 200+ assorted light vessels.

 **Eclipse's Omega Fleet:** 2 Battlecruisers, 38 assorted cruisers, 32 destroyers, 50+ assorted light vessels

* - This is an indication of her full fleet strength, not of all of the ships that actually participated.

** - Light vessels in this case means any type of frigate or converted warship

The battle took place in three phases, centered around the Relays leading into and out of the system, and around Omega itself.

First was the initial arrival of Sarval's fleet and the subsequent battle taking place around that Mass Relay. Here he was largely opposed by the Eclipse, who had been preparing to move through the Relay to move against the Blue Sun outposts near the Perseus Veil. An extremely chaotic affair, neither group was able to properly form up into battle formations. At the close ranges none of the capital ships involved could properly bring their spinal mounts to bear, and rather than risk her lightly armored battlecruisers the Eclipse Admiral ordered a short-range FTL 'hop' to get them clear while simultaneously ordering her fleets to focus fire on the Blue Suns flagships.

One, the _Sash of Fire,_ took several repeated hits to her broadside from a cruiser battle line, including a round that penetrated to destroy her CiC. Her remaining crew managed to regain control from an auxiliary bridge but elected to flee back through the Relay rather than try to press on. They were joined by perhaps half of the survivors, while Sarval managed to coordinate the remainder of the fleet into making the FTL jump that would take them to the first relay leading to the Traverse.

The chaos around the Relay was easily observed from Omega, and Aria's people were quick to realize that the Suns didn't have the strength to attack the station. Unfortunately, their mistress was personally engaged in combat, and her admirals and ship captains couldn't come to an agreement as to what to do after that.

Eventually, fed up with the lack of coordination, the Matron Captain Oran T'loak (no relation to Aria) of the old Turian dreadnought _Blade of Darkness_ ordered all of the nearby ships to jump with her to try and cut off the Blue Suns. Unfortunately those ships had been the ones keeping many Blue Suns pinned on one of the smaller asteroid stations around Omega.

Her attempts to 'order' her equals around nearly led to shooting as some moved to obey and others refused, the situation not made any better when her flotilla hit FTL and left the station behind.

The second phase began when Aria's fleet moved, and the opportunity to make their own run became clear. Captain Dougal's units, and what of Captain Tarak's forces that could make it to their remaining ships, quickly sealed their hatches shut and braced themselves. Relying mostly on small frigates and armed freighters, many were blown out of space before they could make it to faster than light, killing thousands. But in the end the majority, utilizing the chaos permeating Aria's fleet, were able to form up and make the jump the relay's leading to the Eagle Nebula to join Jedore.

The last of the fighting occurred when Oran T'loak's fleet emerged from faster than light mere moments ahead of Salvan's remaining battle-group. Much like the preceding engagement with the Eclipse, what evolved was a running engagement as the Suns made their bolt for the relay. While most of the Blue Suns fleet was able to make it through, Captain Salvan himself did not. Rather than risk bringing her dreadnought's spinal guns into play, T'loak ordered full acceleration and brought her ship full ahead to rake the lighter battlecruiser as it tried to make its run. Already badly damaged from the prior engagement and suffering from overheating, the Blue Suns flagship came apart under the repeated salvos.

* * *

 **2.4 Omega: Death and Evaluations**

 _October 5th, 2180_

Even while the space battle was occurring outside of the station, Captain Tarak was preparing to make his last stand within. Aria's entrance to the war had declared it open season on the Blue Suns, though she was extremely clear that Tarak himself was hers to deal with. She was beyond incensed at the data of just how much he had been cheating her, and enraged to find out that he had been behind the disappearance and murders of several of her dancers.

Having her commanders direct the gangs to isolate and surround the smaller Blue Sun areas on the station, and instructing the Eclipse to cease offensive operations, she prepared her personal guard to go after the Batarian.

The resultant battle was almost anti-climactic in its shortness. In a terrifying display of biotic power Aria simply blasted her way through several of the station's interior walls to bypass the main Blue Sun defenses. To keep the exterior defenders in place, her conventional forces launched spoiling attacks that prevented the guards from withdrawing to defend their Captain. While the Pirate Queen took some time to recuperate, her commandos established a cordon before slowly blasting their way towards Tarak's headquarters.

The final fight came when Tarak and his remaining legionnaires, either believing or hoping that Aria was weakened, launched a counter-attack to try and eliminate her. That the Batarian was able to fight his way all the way to her location, falling to one knee only as his wounds finally overcame him, did earn him some of her respect. As a consequence she killed him with a single biotic strike to his chest, rather than torturing him slowly as many had expected.

Mounting his head above the bar in Afterlife, and broadcasting the signal across the station, broke what resistance remained. At Bray's recommendation she made a single, one-time offer. Any Blue Suns who surrendered to her forces would be allowed to join her personal army, provided that they had not done anything to violate the one rule of Omega. Anyone who didn't would be left to the gangs.

While her subordinates handled the rash of messages that followed, and began to work out what of the new territory that they would keep, she had her own issues to handle. The failure of her vastly superior fleet, especially when combined with the Eclipse battlegroup, to destroy the Blue Suns' on their run through the system was a humiliating blow to her pride. That the only commander to have done anything positive had also been responsible for giving Dougal a chance to flee only rubbed more salt in her wounds.

Worse, as much as she wanted to further punish the Suns, the debacle made it clear that her fleet was in no shape to do anything besides defend Omega itself and look imposing. Recalling her secondary fleets, she issues a proclamation to the other Warlords indicating that she will no longer be undertaking offensive operations against the Suns.

* * *

 **2.5 General War**

Outside of the Eagle Nebula, the war was brutal and fast paced as the various Warlords began to move against the Blue Suns.

 **Galactic 'North' of Omega**

In this area, the Suns only had scattered outposts supported by a few larger colony worlds. With the destruction of most of the area's fleet at Omega, these fell quickly to Warlord Zaen of the Blood Pack. However he was unable to press on to the final location, as like most Krogan had only limited interest in ships beyond their ability to transport his people. Thus, even crippled, the _Sash of Fire_ remained far more than sufficient to protect the small Canata cluster and it's colonies from Krogan aggression. Most of the Blue Suns were able to flee in that direction before the Pack reached them, leaving to very little combat in this region.

Nor would the Eclipse make a maneuver in that direction, as Sederis, like Aria herself, had been unimpressed by the complete lack of coordination within the Black Fleet. As both insurance, and as a deliberate insult to her fellow Asari, she began to gather the full Eclipse fleet around the relay leading to the Eagle Nebula to blockade any attempt by Jedore and Dougal to change their minds and make a run for the Traverse.

 **Galactic 'East' of Omega**

Much like the start of the war, the initial combat in this region was strictly a fight between the Eclipse and the Blue Suns.

Lacking direct options as most of her forces were occupied on the opposite side of Omega, and increasingly open to unconventional options as her mind healer and medications worked to restore her sanity, Sederis put a new plan into motion.

The Battlecruiser _Storm Rider,_ paired with the Carrier _Thousand Cuts_ (The only non-Alliance fleet carrier in operation), would be used as heavy raiding fleet. The two heavy ships, joined by a dozen frigates and three cruisers with larger than typical fighter capacity, launched an audacious raiding operation. Departing from Omega on the 15th of October, they would return in January having destroyed over a dozen isolated Blue Sun outposts, smashing three convoys attempting to make runs for the safety of the Traverse, and evading or destroying every attempt by the Suns to engage them in the process.

Despite its highly publicized trail of destruction, most of the fighting in this area was left to the Blood Pack's Ganar Yulaz and the Lady Warlord Yan T'Ravt. In this the latter had the advantage, despite her smaller forces and territory. On excellent terms with Sederis to begin with, she likewise had little difficulty in charming the Captain of the _Thousand Cuts_ when that task force moved through her territory. Her forces quickly moved in to take over areas that were hit, and she likewise had her own plans to deal with the 'uncivilized' Blood Pack.

Whenever Yulaz began to move against the Blue Suns, she would quickly consult the leaked information on the defenders and evaluate if they were people she would accept within her own forces. If they were, she would move in and offer to assist them.. if they merely accepted her as their leader instead. If they were not, she would still often smuggle them arms and equipment to punish the Pack as severely as possible before they fell or retreated.

While the Krogan was naturally enraged, there was little he could do in return. Much like Zaen he had few warships, relying on his ally in Heinrich die Waffe to even transport most of his armies. And the human had no interest in being drawn into a shooting war with the Lady Warlord, she was, after all, one of his best customers when it came to new ship construction.

 **Eagle Nebula**

Within the Eagle Nebula, Jedore and Dougal brought in the lesser Captains and quickly began to plan their defense. Knowing that they lacked the forces to defend the entire area, they withdrew everyone to Korlus itself, beginning the process of turning the planet into an armed camp. While on paper their situation was good, in practice there were extreme difficulties as neither one of them was willing to cede command to the other.

* * *

 **2.6 Second Battle of Omega**

 _October 30th, 2180_

On the 24th of October, a portion of the Blue Suns fleet in the Eagle Nebula elected to try and make a break for the Traverse. It was largely compromised of ship captains who cared little for Jedore and her megalomania, and even less for Dougal's honorable mercenary nature. Also fresh on their minds was the very poor performance of Aria's black fleet in the engagement not more than a month prior, and most of those who elected to go believed that they had a reasonable shot at making it.

Unfortunately, what they were unaware of was that the full Eclipse battle fleet (minus the raiding forces) were now present in system. The resultant battle hardly deserves the word, as the Blue Suns were more or less annihilated from the start. A few frigates were able to make the full run and emerge on the other side, and a suicidally brave torpedo run by another frigate 'wolf pack' even destroyed the battlecruiser _Midnight Eclipse_ , but the overall engagement was a one sided slaughter given that the heaviest Blue Sun vessels present were cruisers.

* * *

 **2.7 Calm Before the Storm**

 _October through February_

After the Second Battle of Omega, the Blue Suns in the Terminus were effectively limited to the bastion on Korlus, a few scattered forts and outposts still holding out against Blood Pack attacks, and the Canata cluster defended by the _Sash of Fire._

Over the next several weeks, that eventually became months as the various groups took their breaths and re-organized before the finally push, the young captain of the Blue Suns battle-cruiser found herself becoming the most popular woman in the Terminus.

Lieutenant Navara Hessian was a twenty seven year old Turian female who had become Captain because, as the ship's C.A.G., she hadn't been on the bridge when it had been hit. Sederis, Aria, die Waffe and others began to offer her everything from sexual favors to heaps of credits if she would join them, and the Captains of the other ships around the damaged battlecruiser were of little help. Most of them felt as if _they_ should be the ones in charge and it took warning shots from her secondary guns to keep several boarding attempts at bay.

Eventually gathering the ship's other officers in a boardroom, she laid out their options. They could stay and fight when someone inevitably came to claim the cluster, they could jump directly to Omega and surrender to Sederis or Aria, or they could use secondary relays and conventional FTL to attempt to make the long trip around Omega to try and make it to T'Ravt.

The first was quickly dismissed, and no one on board trusted the Eclipse or Aria. Which left only one option. Grabbing as many supplies from the planet below, and telling the other ships that they could come with or stay and die, they plotted out their course before making the first jump. Their absence was quickly reported, with Zaen and Sederis quickly moving in and beginning to fight over the cluster. What no one knew at the time was where they had gone, but for the most part few actually cared. So long as the resource filled worlds were open to exploitation, it didn't seriously matter.

* * *

 **2.8 Rapid Collapse**

 _February 20th, 2181_

The settling of the status-quo lasted until late February, when the war in the Traverse began to interfere with the war in the Terminus. This was the date when Commander Ka'hairal Balak and the Batarian light cruiser _Qwin'tos_ made its run through the Theodosian Relay and into the Terminus. What followed would be extremely detrimental to the remaining Blue Suns, but also severely annoying to T'Ravt personally.

Balak and his SIU commandos began stealth insertions onto planets where she had been carefully managing the Blood Pack allowed to land, and the supplies making it to the Blue Suns, in order to maintain the fighting. The longer it went on, the more time she had to consolidate her still shaky positions. Eventually she would simply be able to move in and eliminate both side, but until then she had more to gain by allowing the war to drag on.

The Hegemony strike team quickly forced her to move faster than she wanted by sabotaging Blue Sun positions and assassinating experienced leaders. In some cases the Blood Pack promptly overwhelmed the stunned survivors, in others the Suns managed to rally. In either she found her old appreciation for Batarian culture quickly waning as Balak entirely ignored her rising fury at his interference. The situation came to a head in mid March when the _Qwin'tos_ was engaged by two of her heavy cruisers specifically dispatched to destroy the irritation.

While the Hegemony ship managed to slip away into FTL, it was finally clear to Balak that he had worn out his welcome. After making some scratch repairs, he set his course for the Eagle Nebula to make a final raid on the Blue Suns before retiring to either Omega or Illium to wait out the end of the war.

* * *

 **2.9 The Lady of War**

 _March 28th, 2181_

With the Blue Suns 'buffer' zone collapsing before her eyes, Yan T'Ravt was forced to finally begin full offensive operations. Her first strike was against the X-987B system, an empty solar region notable only in that it had the connecting prime relay to Theodosis. What few Blue Suns ships remained available thanks to Hegemony aggression in the Traverse put up only token resistance before fleeing. With nothing left to protect them, the fuel and repair stations near the relay threw themselves at her mercy.

Quickly accepting, she shifted the majority of her fleet into the system to block any attempt by Vosque, or the Hegemony, to breach it and enter her territory. In the meantime, her ground forces began landing on the remaining Blue Sun worlds. They typically gave the mercenaries one final chance to surrender and join her. Acceptance would cause her people to join them in fighting the Krogan, while refusal would see them coordinate with the Blood Pack long enough to wipe them out.

In most cases, even those smart enough to know that they had been used previously were grateful enough to still be alive rather than being killed or enslaved. Or quite possibly tortured and eaten.

Regardless, even with the 'official' end of the war, fighting continued to rage in the systems between Omega and the Traverse as T'Ravt and Yulaz continued their private war over the territory. With most of her fleet now occupied in its blockade, the Blood Pack were able to shuttle in far more reinforcements than they had previously, prolonging the entire affair.

* * *

 **2.10 The Scrapyard**

 _April 17th , 2181_

The end of the war in the Terminus began on April 17th, when a combined fleet made its jump from Omega to the Imir System. While principally lead by the Eclipse, Sederis was able to convince both the aging Gormack and the younger T'Ravt to join her with promises of territory within the nebula.

They were further joined by a small private force led by Nynsi Shaaryak, who for political reasons was interested in rescuing Commander Balak. The Hegemony cruiser had crashed on world after the planet's improved ground to space defenses had detected their attempt at a stealthy approach and blasted the _Qwin'tos._

 **Eclipse Fleet:** 3 battlecruisers, 34 assorted cruisers, 17 destroyers, 74 assorted light vessels, 100+ transports

 **Warlord Gormack:** 1 battle-cruiser, 14 cruisers, 28 assorted light vessels, 100+ transports

 **Warlord T'Ravt:** 17 assorted cruisers, 16 destroyers, 43 assorted light vessels, 100+ transports

 **Blue Suns:** 20 assorted cruisers, 18 destroyers, 2 pocket carriers, 47 assorted light vessels

In defense of their planet, the two primary Captains quickly put aside their differences for once and coordinated on a plan. Jedore, proving that she was an able commander even if she was slightly unstable, devised a fleet engagement operation that would at least narrow the odds. The fleet would jump to the system's outer reaches and wait for her signal, where they would jump back to coordinates provided by Korlus and destroy every transport ship they could reach. She was further able to sell the plan to her Captains by authorizing them to jump for Omega after accomplishing their mission and then surrendering, or fleeing, however they wished.

Meanwhile, Dougal took direction over the planet's defenses. Concentrating all of their forces on the most populated northern continent, his plan was typically direct. All GtS batteries would remain silent until landing operations were underway, when they would open up on any shuttles within range. All Blue Sun forces would then move to immediately engage the landing zones and attempt to repel the invaders 'at the beach'.

In space, at least, the Blue Suns plan more or less went off without any surprises.

Warlord Gormack led the campaign by securing the system's relay before moving in and seizing the fueling and discharge stations near the outer gas giant. Once the Salarian had broadcast his all-clear, Sederis and T'Ravt came through the relay and cautiously approached Korlus. Jedore held off as long as she could, herself and Dougal gritting their teeth against the bombardment pounding several of their positions until many of the heavier ships were forced to slow their fire as heat built up.

Taking it as their only chance, they sent the transmission and directed the fleet to engage and destroy as many transports waiting near Gormack's fleet as possible.

The Blue Suns warships proceeded to do just that, emerging from FTL in an ideal position above and behind the Salarian's fleet as it orbited the gas giant. Over thirty of his transports, and several of his cruisers, were obliterated in the first salvo. Cursing up a violent storm, Sederis took what ships were capable of making a fast jump and bolted for his location, while her own invasion fleet desperately began going to FTL.

Above Quodis, the fight was chaotic as Blue Sun frigates and fighters dove after converted freighters and conventional transports. In the meanwhile the cruisers and destroyers formed a perimeter and began to hammer the Warlord's flagship, leaving it battered and drifting despite losing several of their own ships in return. The battle turned only when Sederis arrived, driving her ships to nearly suicidally short range in order to destroy the enemy before they could make their own run to the Relay. In the end only a few Blue Sun ships were able to withdraw to Omega, where they promptly offered their services to Aria, but the damage was done. Over seventy percent of Gormack's group forces had died in their ships, and the Salarian had been badly injured during the battering of his vessel.

Disgusted, Sederis returned her fleet to Korlus to oversee an extremely cautious landing strategy, as neither Asari leader wished to once again be caught off guard.

Their landing pattern was so cautious in fact that it completely threw off Dougal, who had scattered his troops in preparation for multiple landing zones near the major cities. Instead the Asari had concentrated all of their forces in a single area south of the Capital, and supported it by shifting warships continuously through on bombardment orbits to keep the area clear. Rather than throw away the nearby troops in a futile attack, he ordered them back and began to re-arrange the lines to try and use the planet's scrapheaps to enforce a cordon around the LZ.

He and Jedore began to establish new plans, similar to Tarak's counter-attack efforts, utilizing his personal forces and her Legionnaires to isolate and eliminate any enemy group that over-stretched itself. In the meanwhile, they would use the geography to their advantage and try to force the Eclipse into a grinding engagement that would wear at their psyches.

On the other side of the battlefield things were complicated. T'Ravt had no desire to be bogged own in a long campaign, and Sederis likewise had larger concerns. They were in conference when a message asking for permission from Shaaryak and the Eclipse unit assigned to oversee her came in, and neither paid much additional attention after approving the rescue plan.

That changed when the rescue party inadvertently came to Dougal's personal attention by securing the crash site of the _Qwin'tos_. While he had little idea of why they had done so, he had plenty of worries. The ship's wreckage was nominally behind the Blue Sun's main line, and they had no good GtS batteries nearby in case the vessel was armed with weapons of mass destruction. Given the limited numbers involved, he elected to take his personal guard to handle the situation quickly, leaving Jedore to handle things alone until he returned.

Despite the initial engagement going according to his plan, the Batarians and Eclipse managing to rig the ship's missile bays to blast one of his companies out of the sky was assuredly not. Realizing that he could quite quickly lose all of his elite people, he launched a desperate assault on the wreck that lead to his death, shot in the back by a exiled, lowborn female after his barriers had collapsed fighting Nynsi Shaaryak's Harath'krem and the Eclipse's Captain Wasea.

What remained of his forces promptly spent themselves in suicidal attacks to try and avenge him, an effort further made pointless by the realization that the wreck had been nothing special beyond as a means to cover Balak's rescue.

Jedore put her best spin on things, but Dougal's death brought morale to rock bottom across the Blue Suns. Many began to see little point in fighting on and began to surrender, to T'Ravt's people whenever possible.

The last Blue Sun Captain in the Terminus lasted another month within the planetary Capital, eventually committing suicide after Sederis rejected several attempts at a negotiated surrender. With her death, the official war in the Terminus was closed, leaving only the unresolved affairs in the Traverse and the still chaotic aftermath behind.


	4. The Blue Suns War: Traverse Operations

**Section 1: The Blue Suns War**

* * *

 **Chapter 3** : **The War in the Traverse**

* * *

 **3.0 The Blue Suns in the Traverse**

The Blue Suns positions in the Traverse were far more consolidated in the Traverse than they had been in the Terminus. A large portion of this was due to the group's growth pattern in this region of space, which saw Santiago buying up Human, Turian, and Batarian PMC and pirate groups. Of course, the most notable feather in the collective Blue Suns' hat was the Theodosian system, seized by Zaeed Massani from a pirate king during his last mission with the organization.

One of three Prime relays leading to the Terminus, it was also the only one truly open to the Batarian Hegemony. A sizable portion of the Suns profits thus came from 'tariffs' imposed on Hegemony eezo haulers on their journeys to Omega and back. That the system had two planets near one standard gravity in Marcian and Pulcheria was merely icing on the cake. Neither was a garden world, the latter was little more than an iceball in the outer system, but they were still habitable enough to support fairly large populations.

Their other worlds were largely found around the relays directly leading to this core system, with additional outposts scattered through both the Traverse and the Dark Rim. Most were little more than small shelters housing sensor arrays, keeping an eye on the plentiful independent groups still active in the area.

* * *

 **3.1 Opening Moves**

 _October 12th, 2180_

Much like the short calm after Santiago's death, initially Vosque hoped that his Traverse holdings might be able to escape the general war. After all, there was only a single point of entry for any Warlord trying to reach them and his core fleet had little issues blockading the relay. And, up until February and March, he still controlled numerous outposts and colonies on the other side of the Prime Relay to further protect himself.

As for the Traverse itself, he felt that there was little to worry about. The death of the Pirate King on Marcian twenty years prior had broken the only 'Warlord' in the area. He had little concern for the Hegemony, and less for the Alliance. Even Corsairs rarely were daring enough to make it as far as his territory, preferring to strike at smaller pirate groups closer to the Verge.

Still, the information that had flooded the extranet made him paranoid enough to shake things up. Local commanders were ordered to radically adjusted their patrol patterns, every encryption in use was shifted ahead of schedule, and he sent his Asari lover to make overtures to the larger pirate bands. A few proved receptive, the idea that he might turn himself into the Traverse's equivalent to Aria tempting them to join him to receive some of the profits.

Far from his bunker on Marcian, in the ancient halls on Khar'shan, the Hegemony's leadership was making their own preparations. Both of the premier casts of the society were sick of the Blue Suns, each for their own reasons. The merchants loathed how many credits had been sunk in payments to them, and were eager for an end to the wasteful spending on pirates to attack the Alliance. They would rather see money being directed to open new markets and colonies in the Dark Rim and Traverse. The very idea of opening direct trade with the Terminus made them positively giddy.

The Warrior caste was likewise tired of their eezo supplies being throttled by what Vosque would allow through his system, and many were incensed at how the human had been responsible for killing Dal'serah and thus foiling their plans. A few younger members of the military requested, and received permission, to conduct 'experimental' raids on the Blue Suns to prove that a war could be won. Making their strikes while many of the Blue Suns were still stuck in their old patterns, or were in the midst of transitioning, they scored several wild successes that convinced them that any war against the Blue Suns would be hilariously short.

And so on October 12th, the High Patriarch and High Admiral issued a joint declaration that the Hegemony was now at war. At the same time, the Second and Fourth fleets hit their relays and began the campaign.

* * *

 **3.2 Running Wild Into a Wall**

 _October 28th, 2180_

The first two weeks of the Hegemony's operations were both impressive and disappointing.

The plan, as drawn up by High Admiral Del'thran and his war staff, was simple. The First and Fifth fleets would maintain their positions protecting Khar'shan and the Hegemony's core worlds in case the Alliance or Citadel elected to protest violently to their expansionism. The Third would be kept as a reserve in case the offensive operations required additional firepower.

 **Wave 1:** The Second and Fourth would be broken apart into several task forces at their Admiral's discretion, and would move in to size the Blue Suns operations near the Batarian colonies in the Dark Rim. Expected duration is two to three weeks.

 **Wave 2:** Recombining into their full formations, both fleets would shift to secure two of the larger Blue Sun colonies. Each targeted system had a relay leading to Theodosius, and the Third would be on alert for Vosque's main body. Expected duration was another four weeks to give the ground forces time to secure the planets.

 **Wave 3:** The final operation would be the Second and Fourth, joined by the Third, all moving to Theodosian system. There they would destroy Vosque's primary battle fleet before shifting to cover an invasion force. Pulcheria would be bypassed, with army troops landing on Marcian to find and eliminate Vosque. After his death, the theory was that Blue Sun resistance would collapse.

Initially, the first wave seemed to succeed. Eight small outposts were quickly overwhelmed. What Blue Suns ships were on picket duty scattering in the face of the Hegemony's task forces. Unfortunately to Del'thran, he was relying on information that was largely incorrect. His campaign plan was predicated on the released data, but that data had been compiled by people more than slightly prejudiced against the Executive Admiral. Dal'serah, as well as the ul Shaaryak's, had believed him to be little more than a coward clinging to his Asari lover's skirts.

The Hegemony was thus totally unprepared when Vosque quickly shifted from his commander center on Marcian to his flagship, the battlecruiser _Ember Celica_. Leaving behind only a token defensive force to be reinforced by those ships still fleeing the Terminus, he brought the vast majority of his fleet forwards.

Scrambling to consolidate before their disparate task forces could be engaged and defeated in detail, the Hegemony Admirals left massive gaps in their resultant positions. Rather than risk open battle, Vosque maintained his core as a 'fleet in being' that pinned both of the smaller Hegemony fleets in place by the threat of his location. With that done, he released dozens of frigates and pocket carriers for raiding operations. They were swiftly joined by independent pirate groups eager to see the Hegemony knocked down a peg.

* * *

 **3.3 Unrestricted Warfare**

 _October 28th – November 20th, 2180_

Despite initial successes, overall the Blue Suns raiding efforts were largely frustrated by Del'thran's quick release of the Third Fleet with direction to solve the issue. The High Admiral himself had additional problems, as it was becoming embarrassingly clear that the Hegemony's military had not been ready to fight an offensive campaign like this. Supply ships and transports were running days behind, assuming they were being directed to the right locations at all, and the only intelligence they had on the enemy was the information leaked by Republic Intelligence. Information that was quickly becoming outdated, leaving them fumbling in the dark.

Admiral Fath Genrayal of the Third Fleet wasted no time in working towards the issue put before him. Seeing that the worst losses were coming when the Blue Suns or pirates could catch ships discharging their drives, he put a stop to vessels simply doing so when required. Instead 'convoy' systems were introduced, where ships were expected to stick to strict patterns of movement. Drives would be discharged at specific stations or planets, which would then be protected by his ships.

Initially this only led to more confusion, and losses, as the supporting fleet nominally answered to whomever they were delivering supplies to. So ships carrying torpedoes to the Second Fleet did not believe themselves to be bound to those orders, a situation that shifted only when Khar'shan dictated that all non-combat ships in the Rim and Traverse had to follow Genrayal's orders.

By the end of November the crisis was largely past, with Del'thran establishing a logistics council of nominally retired Admirals to direct the supply flows, and Genrayl's convoy system forcing the Blue Suns to engage warships whenever they tried to attack.

But by and large, the damage had already been done. A sizable portion of the Hegemony's merchant marine had been destroyed before the reforms could be put into place, throttling the speed at which their forward operating fleets could act. By this point the target dates for Wave two had come and gone, with Del'thran only reluctantly authorizing the Second and Fourth to resume offensive operations on the 20th.

* * *

 **3.4 Terran Maneuvers**

 _October 28th – December 10th, 2180_

On Arcturas Station, the Alliance government was watching the Hegemony's maneuvers with alarm. They had long considered themselves superior to their rival in terms of fleet power and territory, but this was largely the political and public opinion. The Alliance military had a vastly different opinion, one that lead to a great deal of screaming in back room chambers.

The Prime Minister, enraged by the Batarian's expansion into the Traverse, publicly threatened war if the Hegemony didn't back down. Not only did this draw a polite note of censure from the Citadel Council, who had no desire to fight the Hegemony, it also drew a private blasting from his Admirals. They, far more than he, knew what they were and weren't capable of. Any attempt to invade the Hegemony would be fought to the death and would necessitate a massive redeployment that would leave the Verge wide open for a second blitz.

Further, just as the Hegemony was discovering, they were belatedly realizing that they had little infrastructure in place for offensive operations spread out across the galaxy. Any attempted invasion would likely bog down just as their rival's had and lead to a long, protracted war from which no actual victor would emerge.

Believing them to be defeatist and unpatriotic, the Prime Minister backed down only when both Admirals Singh and Hackett threatened to resign their commissions rather than lead any such offensive. Instead, they were in favor of checking the Batarian expansion by moving carefully into the Traverse themselves. By positioning one or two fleets in that area they could limit how much territory the Hegemony would gain, and quite possibly clean out several pirate nests in the process. That would leave the door open for future offensive operations against the Hegemony, possibly within two to three years once the Sixth fleet was on line.

Somewhat mollified by the plan, it was approved for Hackett's Fifth Fleet to rotate into the Verge, and then into the Traverse at his discretion. In the meantime he directed Ambassador Udina to protest to the Council, not expecting much in return. Nor was he disappointed. The Citadel publicly censured the Hegemony for 'stirring up pirate attacks', but did and said nothing more.

* * *

 **3.5 An Honorable Death**

 _November 20th, 2180_

Back in the Traverse, the first major fleet battles of the campaign were unfolding as the Hegemony's old ships began to move. While the Second Fleet encountered little resistance as it shifted to secure the Raythan Nebula, the Fourth found itself embroiled in conflict when Vosque brought nearly the entirety of his fleet out to engage their attempt to secure an information center in the Dark Rim.

 **Hegemony Fourth Fleet:** 2 dreadnoughts, 30 assorted cruisers, 14 destroyers, 64 light vessels

 **Blue Suns Holding Force:** 5 heavy cruisers, 3 cruisers, 8 light cruisers, 12 destroyers, 28 frigates

 **Blue Suns Prime Fleet:** 4 battlecruisers, 38 assorted cruisers, 7 pocket carriers, 34 destroyers, 100+ light vessels

 **Supporting Pirates:** 3 light cruisers, 7 destroyers, 1 pocket carrier, 48 light vessels

Knowing that the older ships of the Hegemony's fleet would rabbit if he was not careful about his engagement plan, Vosque initially deployed only a portion of his fleet in planetary orbit. Once the Batarians had engaged, he would shift his remaining two groups into place. His primary battle fleet would jump in from the outer system and do as much damage as they could, while the Pirates that he had managed to dragoon for the operation would lurk near the Relay and force the enemy to run a gauntlet of fire on their way out system.

Admiral Chak Thrennayak was nearly as old as some of his vessels, and was noted for his inflexibility. But like the few others of his generation still remaining, he had an older sense of honor and pride.

Initially taking the bait, the Fourth fleet jumped in system after forming up near the Relay and engaged the small holding force above the unnamed iceball of a planet. Exchanging several volleys of fire led to minor losses on both sides, but it wasn't until he began to bring his old dreadnoughts in close to utilize their numerous broadside guns that Vosque made his move.

To his credit, Thrennayak quickly realized that his situation was hopeless. His ships were hopelessly out of position to counter the incoming fleet, and while they were far enough out system that heat was not yet an issue it quickly would become one given that his ships had been in combat operations. Not believing that there was any way for all of his ships to escape, he split his force in half. The larger, centered around the dreadnought _Blade of Khar'shan,_ would accelerate into a slingshot around the planet which would bring them into proper positioning for an FTL hop to the relay. The smaller group, lead by his flagship, would shift more slowly into a 'chase' position to protect the vulnerable sterns of the other group.

Descriptions of the frantic running battle that followed were almost romantic. Many ships kept themselves so close to the planet that they dipped into its upper atmosphere, their armor barely holding the blazing heat at bay as they streaked ahead at full speed. The core of the Fourth fleet largely survived to make its jump, with the dreadnought's guns scattering the pirate forces at the relay before they could do more than damage a few frigates.

Thrennayak and his flagship, the _Glory of the Pillars_ , maintained its chase position to the end, blocking Vosque's increasingly desperate attempts to get his battlecruisers into position to fire their primary guns into the _Blade of Khar'shan_ 's vulnerable stern. The century old warship finally came apart from the concentrated fire from the Blue Suns Capital ships, its wreckage tumbling to crash into the ice and snow below, but its sacrifice allowed the larger _Blade of Khar'shan_ to escape into FTL and through the relay.

While the losses could have been worse, the psychological defeat was one that sent many in the Hegemony reeling. For more reasons than one. Many of the old-school, who loathed the younger generation's blatantly brutal approach, pointed to Thrennayak as the last of the old, gallant Highborn. This resonated particularly in the mid and low castes, who had begun to grow quite sick of the excesses of their superiors.

In several outer colonies Highborn who made the mistake of decrying Thrennayak as an old fool found themselves murdered by their own servants. The civil unrest quelled only when Del'thran posthumously awarded the Fourth's old admiral with the title of Honored by the Pillar of Power, the highest honor available to the warrior caste. That may have temporarily calmed things, but many aged Highborn found themselves with increasing political power and wasted no time in putting that to use with what time they had.

But even as the Hegemony stuttered, the Blue Suns had likewise suffered. The _Glory of the Pllars_ had fallen, but her aged guns had done their best to punish her killers. Vosque's lightly armored battlecruisers had been battered badly by her return fire. Much like the Hegemony he was no real shape to press for further engagements, instead falling back to Theodosius to conduct repairs.

* * *

 **3.6 Almost Wars**

 _December 18_ ** _th_** _, 2180_

As both sides of the war took some time to recover their breath and evaluate their next moves, things continued to happen on the other side of the Traverse.

To say that the High Admiral and High Patriarch were alarmed when Admiral Hackett's Fifth Fleet began to move into the Traverse proper would be an understatement. The modernized Fifth fleet was quickly shifted to cover the Hegemony relays leading to the Verge and Traverse, with few in the Batarian government believing the Alliance's declaration that the ships were merely moving to protect the nominally independent colonies in the region.

Del'thran, at least, began to believe the official word when elements of both nation's Fifth Fleets encountered one another in the Keplar Verge, having both been pursuing the same pirate group. The Alliance ships fired only warning shots and withdrew once the pirates had been eliminated. Still, the situation was tense and there would be several more incidents over the next several weeks. The situation would culminate on January 5th when a brief shooting match broke out near the Hegemony border, calming only when the Batarian ships were ordered to withdraw.

Not eager to start a war with humanity, as much as he didn't care for them, Del'thran privately reached out to Hackett and was surprised to find the human amiable. The two quickly conducted quiet negotiations before agreeing to an informal arrangement. It could not be formal, as the High Patriarch would eviscerate him politically, and Hackett would, at best, be remanded for making a political decision.

The terms were simple. The Alliance was effectively ceded all territory within one Relay connection of the Verge, while the Hegemony was likewise limited to those within the same distance of the Black Rim. Theodosius would be included in the Batarian 'sphere' as an acceptance to its importance. The remainder of the 'central' Traverse would be left to the independent colonies within the region, with Del'thran accepting that any aggressive move in their direction would likely bring war.

Neither Admiral honestly expected the agreement to hold, and privately communicated their mutual surprise to one another after the war's end.

* * *

 **3.7 Running Battles**

 _December 30_ _th_ _, 2181_

With his repairs completed, Vosque again departed his capital with the bulk of his fleet, hoping that another victory might dissuade the Hegemony. His chosen target was the nearby Raythan Nebula, where the Batarian Second Fleet continued to cover the invasion forces trying to dig the Blue Suns out of their trench lines.

Unfortunately for Vosque, the Hegemony had learned from the prior engagement and the Admiral commanding the Second Fleet was appropriately cautious. Keeping his fleet concentrated, he refused several attempts by the Blue Suns to lure him into an engagement, instead making short FTL hops to threaten any effort by Vosque to disrupt the planetary campaigns underway.

While the Capital ships thus lingered and jockeyed, the Battle of Raythan became a running one between light ships and picket vessels. Neither side was able to achieve any appreciable advantage, but in the long term that effectively meant Hegemony success. Prior to the war, the majority of the Blue Suns ships had been purchased from the Warlord Heinrich die Waffe's shipyards, paid for by the tariffs imposed on Hegemony shipping. As neither was now an option, and with only small shipyards above Pulcheria, Vosque had little opportunity to replace his losses.

After two weeks, he finally accepted the operation as a lost cause and withdrew, having lost nearly forty small ships for absolutely no gain.

* * *

 **3.8 The Deadliest form of Flattery**

 _January 12th – February 15th, 2181_

Looking to buy themselves time, and an opening, the Hegemony's Warrior Council shifted the operational orders in the wake of Vosque's withdrawal from Raythan.

The Second Fleet would maintain its position in the nebula to both protect the army forces there, as well as to act as a threat against any adventurism by Vosque. The recovering Fourth fleet would relieve the Third, though by this point there was little raiding occurring. Most of the pirates had given up and were instead going back to attacking one another or independents in the Traverse rather than risk open battle with Hegemony warships.

In the end, the real shift was the Third. Admiral Fath Genrayal had proven himself capable, and was thus saddled with another new task. Just as the Blue Suns had nearly crippled the Hegemony's war effort with their privateering, his Third Fleet was now ordered to repay them in kind.

Privately irritated at once again being relied on to change the entire path of the war, Genrayal publicly exuded nothing but confidence as he called in his senior Captains to discuss their options. Remembering what had caused them the most grief, he re-organized his fleet. Separating out his heavy cruisers, he gave each of them a limited escort of frigates before dispatching them. The small raiding parties would lurk in the deep space of systems, waiting for Blue Sun ships to head in-system to discharge before jumping in. After smashing their targets they would then jump back into deep space, making several additional jumps to obscure their FTL wakes before again taking up a watchful position.

With those groups causing chaos for Vosque, Genrayal worsened it by doing something once considered abundantly stupid: He began using his dreadnoughts as distractions. Whenever the Blue Suns began to gather to try and track down a raiding flotilla, he would shift his two old Capital ships nearby and force Vosque to assemble to counter him. Only once the Suns were moving would he 'rabbit' to FTL and withdraw to either Raythan or back to the Dark Rim.

While massively wasteful in terms of supplies, the rising frustration of Vosque at being unable to properly coordinate his activities began to pay off as the normally professional human began to break down. With his support fleet devastated, and the pirates who had flocked to his banner increasingly deserting him, he put plans into motion to pull back everyone he could to the Theodosian system. Much like Jedore and Dougal he would create an armed bastion, strong enough to make any victory pyrrhic. Eventually the Hegemony would be starved for Terminus goods and would have to negotiate.

* * *

 **3.9 Fighting Withdrawal**

 _February 15th – March 10th, 2181_

His movement to cover the general pull-back did not go unnoticed by Hegemony's Warrior Council, and for the first time all three of the Batarian's old fleets were authorized to consolidate and move.

The recovered Fourth fleet swept up the Dark Rim, smashing as many outposts as they could before the Blue Suns could escape, culminating in destroying several cruisers covering a convoy as it hit the relay leading to the safety of Theodosius.

The Second was more limited in its operations, as Vosque aggressively shifted his fleet to counter their attempts to obstruct his pullback from other colonies in the Traverse. It wasn't until the Third consolidated in early March and was able to join them that they were able to move in. The big ships fired their guns in anger once again, the fleet exchanging several long range volleys before the Blue Suns pulled back.

Despite the Hegemony's best efforts, over half of the Blue Suns outside of Theodosius were able to reach the safety of the system. And yet again Vosque's four capital ships had escaped with little more than some bruising to show for it.

* * *

 **3.10 The Siege and the End**

 _March 10th – July 23rd, 2181_

Though no one actually knew it at the time, the war was effectively over. Vosque and the remaining Blue Suns were pinned into the Theodosian system by the Hegemony in the Traverse, and T'Ravt in the Terminus. However his remaining fleet was more than enough to take quite a few enemies down with him, and his people remained confident that eventually the Hegemony would break down and be forced to negotiate.

While there were some in the Batarian nation who advocated a direct assault, both the High Admiral and High Patriarch were not among them. The Alliance had begun to ramp up ship construction as a result of several bills passed through Parliament, all aimed at bringing their new Sixth fleet up to operational status faster. Additional clauses also laid the groundwork for a Seventh fleet, and it was clear to them that the humans were preparing for an eventual war that the Hegemony would be highly disadvantaged in.

To that end, every ship, even the older vessels, would have to be kept intact, and new construction accelerated. Closer allies would also be needed, leading to several negotiating efforts. Nynsi Shaaryak, joined by Commander Balak, were to press for trade agreements on Illium. The Hegemony's unofficial ambassador to Aria would begin work towards a new eezo agreement, while another would reach out to die Waffe and his shipyards to inquire as to costs for new ship designs.

The most critical effort, however, was to make amends with Yan T'Ravt. She now controlled the primary trade lane to Omega, and even if Vosque eventually fell the Asari would have to be spoken with.

Talks were tense across FTL lines, as the Lady Warlord was still incensed that the Hegemony had interfered in her campaign. Things remained so until June, when the Hegemony made the offer of ceding Theodosius itself to her sphere of influence if she would keep her tariffs at half of what the Blue Suns had charged. The prospect of not having to go to war with the Hegemony should she take the system intrigued her sufficiently that she consented, with an official deal eventually worked out between herself, Aria, and the Hegemony to re-establish the trade lanes.

That still left Vosque and his fleet standing in the way. Both the Hegemony and T'Ravt coordinated to begin a psychological campaign to wear at his people. Very real images of the Hegemony's execution of Blue Suns prisoners were streamed into the system on all channels, while the Lady Warlord had the Blue Suns she had already absorb send invitations to their comrades.

Though it took several weeks, things began to break down in early July when a cruiser's crew mutinied and jumped to the Terminus to surrender to T'Ravt. Making her gracious acceptance public, she quietly reached out to Vosque to make her formal offer. If he surrendered to her, she would allow him to remain the system's administrator. Living a quiet life of luxury on Marcian was a deeply tempting offer for the now exhausted Executive.

The formal surrender occurred in late July, with T'Ravt's fleet quietly entering the system as Vosque instructed his people to stand down. True to her word, she allowed him to retire unmolested to his mansion with his Asari lover. His fleet was absorbed into her own, though she was careful to redistribute the ship's crews throughout the fleet rather than allowing them all to remain on the same vessels. Likewise ship's captains were encouraged to follow their former leader into 'retirement', and most were savvy enough to accept the pensions she offered.

The Blue Suns Mercenary Corporation thus formally disbanded, ending the official war.


	5. The Blue Suns War: Aftermath

**Section 1: The Blue Suns War**

* * *

 **Chapter 4:** **Aftermath**

* * *

 **4.0 The Terminus**

The Blue Suns had been much like the Systems Alliance, and humanity in general. They had exploded onto the scene in the Terminus and rose meteorically, making obscene profits through canny business decisions and key conquests. But in the end, their ruthless pursuit of cash and power had made enemies of virtually all of their neighbors, guaranteeing than when they stumbled, everyone who could pounced upon them.

While there have been many short lived wars in the Terminus over the last several centuries, with Warlords and Pirate Kings coming and going, the Blue Suns war was unique in the coordinated action taken. Most prior engagements had been one on one affairs between rivals that had lasted years to decades, so in that sense the fight was unique. The rapid nature also lead to a more chaotic fallout as residents were forced to adjust on the fly to new leaders and shifting traffic lanes.

Many of the smugglers and slavers who once supplied the Blue Suns found themselves able to hold bidding wars for their services, even while corporations who once relied on the group for sales desperately made offers to other Warlords simply to avoid shuttering. Most external analysts predict it will be some years before things fully settle down, or as much as they ever do in the Terminus.

A note for the cardinal directions below, each assumes Omega is the center of the 'compass', with due south pointing to the galactic core.

 **Omega**

Aria's seizure of the primary Blue Sun districts for herself forestalled some infighting, but there remained many areas for the lesser groups to fight. The Talons' eventually regrouped under new leadership, branding themselves as of the people of Omega. While earning them a large degree of popular support when they lived up to their rhetoric, it brought them directly into conflict with the more self-serving True Sons.

The two large gangs initially fought over a single street that the Blue Suns had once patrolled, only for the conflict to spill over into all out warfare between them. The Brotherhood of the Fallen and the White Tigers likewise engaged one another on a different deck, while the Blood Pack started testing the Eclipse's new borders.

So far none has dared to cross Aria herself, giving her time to reform her naval command into something more efficient. She is also in the midst of vetting and merging the Blue Suns who surrendered into her general troops, and personally taking the time to execute those who wronged her and thought they could get away with it.

 **The Illium Run / 'West' Terminus**

The Illium Run is now entirely controlled by the Eclipse. A few independent colonies, such as Erinle, remain, but lack any real ability to affect Sederis's control over the lucrative trade-way. On Illium itself, the Board of Directors is largely ecstatic as the Eclipse's prices on trade protection tend to be reasonable, and it removes the need to pay off multiple groups. Stocks are likewise soaring in specific groups as experts predict a boom in the Illium to Omega sales of both weaponry and civilian goods.

 **The Eagle Nebula / 'South' Terminus**

While they threw the crippled Gormack a few bones, this area is now largely divided between Sederis and T'Ravt. Both are mostly interested in Korlus, and are combing the scrapyard for anything useable while they liase with the civilian governments. As the two Asari have come to mutually beneficial arrangements, there is little conflict between the two groups.

 **'North' Terminus**

Dominated by Warlord's Zaen and Heinrich die Waffe, this region of space saw little initial conflict. While both of them, as well as the Eclipse shifted forces to size the few Blue Sun outposts once the _Sash of Fire_ had departed, the fighting was short lived. Zaen, at the encouragement of his Asari daughters, agreed to pull back in exchange for discounted warships from the human warlord. Sederis put up only a token fight to remind Heinrich that she was not reliant upon him as the others were before withdrawing.

' **East' Terminus**

The only area still embroiled in war, it is dominated by Yan T'Ravt's expanded territory and Warlord Yulaz. Once a minor regional power, the Lady Warlord's impressive gains catapulted her into the center of Terminus politics as the fourth most powerful Warlord behind Aria, Sederis, and Heinrich die Waffe. Only time will tell if the five century old matron can handle her new-found power, but the initial signs are positive.

She almost immediately began to put her new fleet to use in cutting off Blood Pack reinforcements to planets where her troops and Blue Sun holdouts continued to fight the Krogan. Additionally, patrol groups were formed to keep opportunists out of the Theodosius to Omega trade lanes to maximize her profits from Hegemony ships making the trip.

* * *

 **4.1 The Traverse**

Despite the fighting largely being limited to the rim-ward areas of the Traverse, the chaotic region of space still saw major changes. With the Hegemony's expansion being countered by the Alliance, both nations seem set to maintain fleets on near constant patrols. This has annoyed both the "independent" human colonies in the region, as well as the pirate groups once sponsored to attack them.

Many of the smaller colonies that now lie within the Alliance's sphere of influence have nearly vanished, their citizens packing up and moving to Horizon or the other colonies that remain nominally apart. In much the same way, the pirates who once preyed upon them have begun to migrate as the Corsairs became even more aggressive in pursuing them. As the population quickly rises, both the Batarian and Human governments are becoming concerned at the veritable powder keg coming into existence directly between their nations.

* * *

 **4.2 The Hegemony**

Despite being victorious in the conflict, the Hegemony's government was hardly in a position to join its citizens in celebration. Outwardly there was reason for their happiness, the war had proven, after all, that the Hegemony was hardly finished as a galactic power and was something to be taken seriously. Inwardly, however, there was a great deal of worry and conflict stirred up in the wake of it.

The formerly Blue Sun held words now controlled were not Batarian dominated by any stretch, and neither the human nor Turian populations had any love for their new masters. Worse, most of the Batarians who were there were exiles and had grown used to living more freely than their compatriots in the Hegemony.

And within the Hegemony itself political tensions were rising. The 'old' generation of Highborn were again making their presence known, viciously using their popularity with the lower castes as a weapon against their younger, more entitled, compatriots. There were increasing calls on both the High Admiral and the High Patriarch to finally agree upon a new Hegemon, a push that neither was privately willing to make.

Equally as annoying, several trade plans had fallen apart, particularly in the Terminus. Commander Ka'hairal Balak may have been an excellent commando leader, but his political skills proved sorely lacking as he managed to completely alienate Nynsi Shaaryak and ensure that she withdrew her support for any trade deal with the Asari world. To add insult to injury, he had to be smuggled back to the Hegemony to avoid assassins quietly hired by T'Ravt to kill him for his actions in the war.

Still, there were some silver linings. They had assuredly proven that, while many of their ships were old, they were still quite combat capable. They had also discovered problems with the supply and logistics of supplying massive fleets and given themselves opportunities to solve said issues. The trade agreement with Aria to increase their eezo flow, made affordable by T'Ravt's lower prices, also allowed the highborn councils to agree on a new budget that included a wider arrange of modern warships.

While it would not allow them to build ship for ship with the Alliance, it would still allow them to replace what they had lost with newer designs. And if the politicians could maintain things, a Sixth fleet could conceivably be brought into existence within three to four years.

* * *

 **4.3 The Alliance**

For their part, the Systems Alliance was also less than thrilled with the results of the conflict. While Hackett's unofficial arrangement had kept the Hegemony from expanding too far into the Traverse, it was still more than some hawks were willing to tolerate. Peace was largely maintained only because the majority had been convinced by the Prime Minister that the Alliance was not yet ready, and promises that further Batarian Imperialism would be countered with conflict.

For additional irritation, the Citadel was increasingly pressuring the Alliance to reveal what connection they had to the Corsairs. This served to worsen their relations with the Salarians (annoyed that they could not penetrate the program) and Asari (who were worried over humanity's increasing expansionism), though it strangely enough improved them with the Turian Hierarchy.

Councilor Sparatus, never a friend to Earth, publicly went so far as to state that he did not care if the Corsairs were actually Alliance or not. They cleaned up scum that needed to be dealt with, and that was sufficient for him. That humanity was expanding into the Traverse was likewise viewed as nothing but a good thing, as the Turians had been berating the Salarians over their refusal to do so for centuries.

The Primarch quietly spoke through the human ambassador on Palaven, asking if there was anything that could be done to accelerate the SR-1 project. After being assured that the construction teams were moving as quickly as they could, he went a step further by offering to assign several Turian Spectres to Alliance N7 teams to better prepare the potential candidates. After some extremely quiet debates his offer was accepted.

* * *

 **4.4 The Citadel***

Publicly, little was said by the Citadel Council on the war or its aftermath. The Batarians, after all, had been well within their rights to move against the Blue Suns. That the conflict had occurred literally ont eh far side of the galaxy also helped to encourage a general apathy about it amongst the public.

In private, however, things were becoming increasingly tense. The STG had good reason to suspect that a private deal had taken place between Hackett and Del'thran, though they were unable to get any details. The Salarian Councilor Valern quietly stated as much to Tevos, which worried both of them greatly. The very idea that the Hegemony and Alliance might mend their relations, possibly being joined by the Hierarchy, was a terrifying one to them. The Three would completely encircle the Salarians militarily, and the potential trade arrangements would completely erase the economic warfare used to keep the Turians in their place.

While they agreed that this was extremely unlikely to occur, they were now faced with the concept that it very much _could._ Quiet reports of the rising political tension in the Hegemony, particularly by the older, more honor-bound generation who might be open to reconciliation with the Citadel and Humanity, did not help matters.

Nor were they happy about events in the Terminus. While Omega made a useful rival, something to point at as a common enemy, the effective consolidation of power into just six sets of hands was worrying. Both agreed to step up efforts to divide the lesser races, with each taking an angle.

The Salarians would handle the Terminus, supported by Republic Intelligence where possible. STG teams would be sent in to investigate the still chaotic region and to make recommendations as to how the various Warlords could best be pushed back into conflict with one another. The Asari would handle the Alliance and the Hierarchy, largely by stirring the Volus up against their masters with one hand while working to ascertain the Alliance's long term plans with the other.

* * *

 **End Section 1: The Blue Suns War**


	6. The Terminus: History & Inhabitants

**Section 2: Dark Side of the Galaxy**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Terminus**

* * *

 **1.0 – Origins**

The Terminus has been a lawless, brawling region of space since the discovery of Omega by Asari explorers nearly one and a half thousand years ago. The Sahrabarik system's unusual number of relays was noted as highly unusual, rivaling the Citadel's gateway hub, and so the Republics initially setup a minor military outpost on the asteroid from which additional exploration missions could be launched.

Legitimate mining operations began slowly not long after, sponsored by Asari clans that lacked stakes in Thessia's own bountiful eezo mines, and the small military outpost began to grow into something larger. This state of affairs lasted for a few centuries before an Asari Matriarch named Iltowma T'Voth, a devout worshiper, of Athame was forced to flee Thessia after attempting to murder a Siarist rival. Reaching the distant system ahead of the official news, she and her familial guards quickly overwhelmed the tiny military forces present.

The Terminus as its own region, separate from the Citadel, was effectively born when she called for all dissatisfied Asari in the Republics to rally to her new base, exploiting the then religious tension between the minority Athame worshipers and the increasingly powerful Siari movement. Initially the Republics tolerated T'Voth's "commune", seeing it as a safe way to expunge less desirable elements of their society.

Unfortunately for herself, while T'Voth was a skilled orator, she was not a very good administrator. The first, and last, leader of the unified Terminus died less than a century into her rule, assassinated by three of her erstwhile subordinates who were more interested in profits and base amusements than religious conflict. With her death, what little order had ruled vanished as her killers divided the small nation between them, officially beginning the warlord era.

The region's population was almost entirely Asari until the Rachni War and subsequent Krogan rebellions, which saw a population explosion as orderly Turian pirates and Krogan battlemasters alike fled to the lawless region where they could create their own empires. Omega, despite being the heart of the Terminus thanks to its location and eezo reserves, grew slowly in comparison. No one Warlord wanted another to have control of the critical station, leaving it a contested battleground that was abandoned as many times as it was inhabited.

 **1.01 – Omega Rising**

A powerful Turian Warlord named Tharsus essentially 'made' the modern Omega when he seized the then abandoned station around 1100 AD. Surrounding it with his fleet, he purchased or enslaved thousands of construction workers to rebuild it into a fortress suitable to rule from, creating the complex that would become Afterlife and its attendent military grade docking facilities. His son would expand further, finally opening the eezo mines, while his grand-son would create the high-end upper districts to house his soldiers.

Their family's reign ended when the Krogan Battlemaster Raik Vol killed Tharsus' great-grandson and seized that station for his own usage. Over his six centuries of rule, Omega would grow from a mid sized outpost to the Citadel's direct rival thanks to a combination of cunning politics and military power. Lesser Warlords were forced to bow before his throne or be denied transit through his system. Trade deals with first the Quarians, and then the Batarians ensured steady supplies of credits to fund further expansions of his station.

 **1.02 – The Morning War**

Things did not begin to sour for the ancient Krogan until the Geth rebellion brought the Quarian's Federated State to collapse, the two decade long conflict utterly disrupting trade and destabilizing the entire region. Refugees and exiles fled in increasing numbers to Xentha, at the time a small Quarian outpost. Raik allowed the movements, manipulating the Quarians on that world in the hopes of creating a minor client-nation under his thumb.

Unfortunately for the Quarian people, his rivals were unwilling to give him that advantage on top of his position on Omega. As the war wound down, what was left of the Federal fleet consolidated in the Dholen system as they and every civilian ship remaining evacuated Haestrom and the other remaining colonies. From there, the refugee government on Xentha hoped that they would head in their direction to reinforce them, but politics intervened.

The Admirals remaining had no desire to subordinate themselves to the mixed colonist and refugee's government, demanding concessions and a reorganization along the lines of the Federal lines that Rannoch had been ruled by. While they bickered, Xentha was left vulnerable, and the planet was attacked by a pair of warlords, one Krogan and the other Asari, who were tipped off by Aria T'loak as to when Raik's fleets would be unable to assist them.

Xentha was sacked in a matter of hours, the limited defenses collapsing almost at once. It was a humiliating blow to Raik, as he had openly spoken of how much greater Omega would be once a new Quarian nation was brought into his krannt.

 **1.03 – Aria's Reign**

A century of waiting and preparation later, Aria T'loak finally made her official move, breaking the old Krogan in single combat in his command center, broadcasting the battle across the station to ensure that everyone knew who know ruled. Her first proclamation was to state the new one-rule of Omega, her second to throw her broken predecessor to the ground and mockingly name him her Patriarch.

Despite her words, Aria continued most of the policies that Raik had enacted on station to maintain a fragile balance between chaos and peace. Food and water on station were explicitly controlled by her troops, and any violence against her eezo miners was repaid tenfold. The lesser warlords were kept in line through bargains for eezo and transit through Sahrabarik, or occasionally more personal favors. Sederis is no stranger to Aria's bed, neither was Heinrich die Waffe in his more athletic, youthful days.

However, much as the Morning War demonstrated that the Patriarch was not invincible, so too did the Blue Sun War for Aria. While she herself reminded everyone that she is one of the most individually powerful beings in the galaxy, her fleet and army's abysmal showing has greatly weakened her position and forced her to ally more closely with Jona Sederis and Yan T'Ravt than she would prefer.

* * *

 **1.1 A Blending of the Species**

For all of the Citadel's claims to unity and cohesion, at its core it is a dividing force. Species have their own governments, their own councilors, their own nations. While the Citadel itself might feature districts and agencies where various species might congregate, once you have left the station you return to worlds where you will only rarely see aliens. Yes, the Alliance has its minority Asari population, and the Republics have their own aliens who moved there to be with their bond-mates, but these are the exceptions rather than norms.

The Terminus has no such barriers.

Turians live beside Krogan, Salarians and Drell run shops side by side, all the while Batarians and Humans viciously haggle down the street.

That is not to say that there aren't issues, racism is naturally rampant, but it remains something that is simply dealt with. Humans know to avoid certain shops and areas, Asari do the same to others, Turians once again the same to more. In the Terminus the issue is more often forced than in Citadel space, and it isn't uncommon for outright racism to be met with threats... or gunfire.

Things tend to be calmest among the older areas, amongst those born to the Terminus and whose parents and even grandparents were likewise born there. Their prejudices tend to be more along the lines of loyalty or religion rather than species, though this is obviously a generalization rather than a certainty.

However, as one rises in what passes for the Terminus's societal levels, the tolerance of such attitudes tends to wane. The majority of the warlords have no desire to alienate potential recruit bases with such petty things, and come down hard on subordinates who try. There are many gangs, such as the True Sons, who are blatantly against one species or another. But by and large their leadership is usually intelligent enough to keep their mouths shut when a Warlord tells them to get along in order to accomplish one task or another.

 **Asari**

Once the dominant population in the Terminus, their growth has slowed as the Republic's dominant religion of Siari preaches against most of what Asari in the Terminus believe in. While many young maidens still spend their 'wild' years in the Terminus, increasingly fewer remain after they've had their fun, returning home to find stability instead.

Those Asari that do remain are most often worshipers of Athame or a non-religious, rejecting Siari and their species's supposed need for communal unity in exchange for self-empowerment. There is noticeably far less discrimination against pure-bloods in favor of looking down on other species, and Ardat-Yakshi who have managed to flee the Justicars are rare but not unknown.

While the bitter and jaded aliens in the Terminus do not usually take well to biotic cults or other such things, the long lives of Asari gives them plentiful opportunities to seize power. That role models such as Aria and Sederis exist gives many poor maidens hope that they too, despite whatever their origins might be, might one day command an empire of their own. And though most of the dancers in places such as Afterlife may be Asari, assuming that an Asari is a prostitute in the Terminus is not a mistake made lightly. On the Citadel, such a statement may get you slapped. On Omega, you will be lucky to be boiled by warpfire.

By Citadel standards, Asari from the Terminus tend to be far more cynical and bitter, but the most common difference is the prevalence towards being extremely self-centered. Those that do still have the old urges to form groups and to build unity tend to do it amongst tight-knight friends and companions rather than trying to build their community as an Asari from the Republics might.

From a fashion and appearance standpoint, Terminus Asari tend towards more extravagant facial tattoos in a wider variety of colors as a method of declaring their individuality. Hunting leathers or Commando plating are more common than revealing dresses, though the latter do still appear quite often.

 **Batarians**

Much has how the Alliance's meteoric rise has caught the Citadel flatfooted, their Batarian rivals have done much the same in the Terminus. Nearly one in four Terminus residents is Batarian, and their numbers continue to multiply as they have children and yet more Batarians are either exiled or leave the Hegemony on their own. At the current rate of growth, there will be more of the species living outside of the Hegemony than within it in less than twenty years.

With all of that being said, Hegemony culture remains extremely pervasive even in exile. Even third or fourth generations cling to their forebearers familial rankings and are taught to respect their social superiors properly. The principal differences lie in the death of the patriarchal society, increased number of inter-species relationships, and the freedom from the traditional caste system.

For the most part, once you get past their ability to change jobs and the prevalence of females openly participating in society, they still act, speak, eat, and dress much as their counterparts on Khar'shan might. While this may seem like hardly any change to a human, even a lowborn of the Hegemony would be shocked at the temerity of a lowborn on Omega who has moved from manual labor to owning a shop, or one who admitted that he has followed his wife's recommendations in his life.

Batarians tend to form enclaves of their own species whenever possible. While they are usually more willing than their Hegemony kin to work with other species, most still consider themselves to be quite superior and would rather not if they have any choice in the matter.

 **Turians**

Even more than Batarians, Turians in the Terminus are extremely cliquish. If there are insufficient other Turians around, they will instead bond heavily to whatever gang, mercenary unit, or Warlord's army they happen to be involved with. That being said, they largely have much in common with the Turians of the Hierarchy. Diligent workers, poor liars; the majority of them find their way into martial jobs.

Most adopt the logos of their employers as their face-paint to show their loyalty, but much like their Citadel counterparts it is exceedingly rare to see one out of their armor.

 **Salarians**

With their breeding strictly controlled by their government, Salarians are the least common species in the Terminus. As all who are present are those who have elected to leave the Union for one reason or another, there is really nothing of note to say in terms of differences. Their rarity, and the extreme animosity between the Salarian Union and Batarian Hegemony, marks them as the most discriminated against species in the Terminus.

 **Humans**

Humans in the Terminus are as diverse a lot as you might expect from our species. For the most part, much like the Asari, they revel in chaotic individuality and anything that marks them as different from Alliance citizens. Most abandon human languages after a few years, picking up either Thessian or the lowborn dialect of Batarian in order to avoid the hassle of translators.

From a fashion standpoint, the largest difference between Terminus residents and those on the Citadel is their hair. In the Alliance, and on the Citadel, short-cropped hair and cleanly shaven faces are considered the height of attraction. Part of this was that society was trending that way before First Contact, another is that Asari typically dislike human 'fur' and we as a species are shallow enough to want to look pretty for the blue skinned alien women.

In the Terminus men keep long beards or mustaches as they prefer, and shoulder length hair is not uncommon. Women grow their hair out even longer, often down to their waistline. Extensive tattoos or temporary warpaint is also on the rise.

 **Terminus Quarians**

Largely descendent from the refugees and colonists on Xentha, Terminus Quarians are largely distinct enough to be considered a separate race from their Flotilla cousins. Nearly the entire population of Xentha was enslaved when the world was seized, and even today forty percent of the race remains in servitude.

In terms of health they are far closer to their ancestors than their weakened kin. Adroit, albeit despicable, 'breeding' by Asari slavers after Xentha fell insured children with stronger immune systems to minimize the amount of equipment and adjustment time required to get usage from them. While still adaptive rather than combative, a Terminus Quarian's immune system is typically strong enough to adjust to a new environment over a period of days or weeks depending on the number of contagions and number of people present.

Their culture is a far cry from the open and self-sacrificing Migrant Fleet, and it would not be inaccurate to say that the first story most of them are told as children is that of the Federal Fleet 'abandoning' Xentha and dooming them. By their teens most are already cynical and jaded, well aware that most other species see them only as good slave stock or rare and exotic aliens to have try and have sex with. Trophy taking is highly prevalent among those not enslaved, often wearing them as a means of warning would-be slavers that they've killed before and will do so again.

Terminus Quarians take their comfort where they can, and revel in being able to live without suits on at all times; occasionally to the point of recklessness. It is not uncommon for them to skip or shorten the time their bodies need to adjust to a new environment and end up sick and weakened as a result. Much like humanity in the Terminus, they prefer to grow their manes of hair as long as possible. Their suits and clothing tends to be dark and muted in color.

 **Vorcha**

The 'plague' of the Terminus, Vorcha are viewed as little more than animals that can shoot back. The Blood Pack's usage of the species as disposable shock troops has not helped with that perception, and most other sapients would sooner shoot a Vorcha and burn the corpse than try to speak with one.

 **Krogan**

Most Krogan in the Terminus are nominally members of the Blood Pack, or else changed their allegiance from Raik to Aria after the latter defeated the former. There is little to no difference between Krogan here and those on Tuchanka. Those on their homeworld may focus on growing and expanding their clans, those in the Terminus focus on growing and expanding their miniature empires.

 **Drell, Hanar, Elcor, Volus**

While there are members of all species in the Terminus, these races are rarely seen for a variety of reasons.

* * *

 **1.20 Locations of Note**

 _Sahrabarik System_ – The location of Omega and the second largest Mass Relay hub in the galaxy. Controlled entirely by Aria, all traders are expected to pay tithes to her to transition through the system.

 _Xentha –_ The short-lived capital of the Quarian Directorate, it is now controlled by Warlord Yan T'Ravt. A dextro world, it is the most heavily populated in the Terminus and is largely dominated by Turians. Nearly eighty percent of Terminus Quarians can still be found here.

 _Theodosius –_ Formerly the Blue Suns' corporate headquarters, it is still ruled by Donnor Vosque though now he does it in T'Ravt's name. The gateway to the Black Rim and rimward Traverse, the system is heavily fortified as the Hegemony's eezo traders transit to and from their nation and Omega.

 _Illium –_ Nominally a Republic world run by an approved selection of Corporations, in reality the planet belongs to Jona Sederis and the Eclipse in everything but name. The Illium-Omega trade way is the most lucrative in the Terminus.

 _Stormwall Shipyards –_ Second only to the shipyards above Palaven, the Stormwall yards are tightly controlled by Warlord die Waffe. Located to the galactic 'north' of Omega, one relay bounce from Sahrabarik and three from the Perseus Veil.

 _Redcliffe –_ One of the few garden worlds controlled by the Blood Pack, Redcliffe is the throne world of Krogan Warlord Nakmor Zaen.


	7. The Terminus: Lady Warlord Yan T'Ravt

**Section 2: The Dark Side of the Galaxy**

* * *

 **Warlord Bio I: The Lady Warlord; Yan T'Ravt**

* * *

 **The Basics**

 **Species** : Asari

 **Age** : 521

 **Height** : 5'9"

 **Build:** Slim

 **Homeworld:** Thessia

 **Skin Color** : Navy-Blue

 **Facial Markings** : Blood Red wave patterns along her jawline, with smaller slash style markings on her temples and cheeks

 **Languages Spoken:** Thessian, Highborn Batarian

* * *

 **History**

Yan T'Ravt is an anomaly amongst the other warlords within the Terminus. A matron approaching her matriarchy, she is of similar age to Aria T'loak although their personalities couldn't be more different.

The youngest member of the prestigious, but highly conservative, T'Ravt clan, Yan seemed destined to join her sisters and extended family in the politics of the Republics. While she took very well to the upper class culture and came to love the pomp and ceremony, she had a more difficult time accepting her family's assertion that non-Asari were lesser beings. Things came to a head during her second century when she was seen in public with the commander of one of the Hegemony's old caravan merchant fleets.

Disgusted and ashamed, and suffering in the Matriarch's circle when their political enemies amused themselves with the scandal, the family quickly held a quiet meeting. Yan proved entirely unrepentant about the dalliance, and while she refuted the rumors that she was pregnant, she also stated that she had no intention of returning to the family fold. Her elder sister Cynthi rose and then spoke eloquently, but not in her sibling's defense. In the end, Yan was cast out from her family, not to be allowed to return if she did not publicly state her regret for her actions.

Initially believing their words, she departed Thessia for the Citadel, intending on waiting for her lover's fleet to arrive. But shortly after arriving she was attacked by Turian assassins, who managed to kill most of the bodyguards she had been allowed to keep before dying. Stunned and confused, she made it to her apartments only to find a Nightwind Assassin waiting for her. The smug murderer revealed that she had sent the Turians to try and make it look that aliens had killed the alien lover, and that herself had been sent by the T'Ravt family.

Confident in her superiority, the commando revealed that they had done so to prevent her from speaking about any of the hidden projects that they were working on. Despite her legitimate protests that she had no idea what any of them even were (she had learned at an early age that there were things she simply didn't want to know), her attacker dismissed the protests as lies before attacking.

Though Yan was able to flee, the remainder of her staff were killed in the fight, and she herself was badly wounded. Worse, word slowly filtered through the news that her lover had been mysteriously killed in the cabin of his flagship while still traversing Asari space. Not trusting C-Sec or her own government, she was forced to disguise herself as a commoner. After laying low for a few days, she eventually fled the Citadel for the Traverse on the first unmarked freighter who would take her.

The next century and a half passed in fairly violent fashion, with the upper-crust Asari bouncing from one mercenary group to another and learning the ins and outs of the Traverse and Terminus. Never staying in one place long, lest the assassins she still believed to be after locate her, she stayed on the move until shortly after her four hundredth birthday.

Having just survived yet another attack by a Nightwind assassin, and having thrown the collared Ardat Yakshi out of an airlock, something snapped within her. Sick and tired of running and hiding, and desperately missing the propriety of Citadel Civilization, she spent most of the money she had accrued since her exile in collecting an elite commando team. With them assembled, she launched a massive raid on a large pirate colony in the Eastern Traverse, hacking her way to its leader's bunker and executing the cowering Salarian. Declaring herself the new leader, a statement that went over fairly well considering that her predecessor had been loathed, she set about reforming the place.

While there was significant resistance at first, over the years and then decades it was simply accepted as her 'quirk'. The population of her personal fiefdom initially dropped as the more rough and tumble population left, then boomed as those seeking a calmer, more structured life began to immigrate in. That it also provided her with a sizable army to protect herself was a pleasant bonus. Retaining her Turian commandos as her personal bodyguard, and replacing them with more of the same as they retired, she was able to slay several more assassin sent by her former family before they seemingly gave up around five decades ago.

Her expansion after her ascension to the Warlord ranks was slow, carefully planned, and yet inexorable all the same. By the time of the Blue Suns War she was a regional power in the 'Eastern' Terminus, with a fairly sizable fleet including one of the newer battlecruisers to come out of Heinrich die Waffe's shipyards.

* * *

 **Personality**

Yan T'Ravt is very much an anomaly in the Terminus systems. Having had an early appreciation for Highborn Batarian culture, and heavily influenced by Turian comrades and lovers during her years on the run, she has blended both with her own upbringing as a high tiered Asari into something unique.

Loathing the same chaos that Aria T'loak adores, she demands levels of politeness and decorum rarely seen even in Citadel Space. Cities on worlds she controls are cleaned up and polished, and even the lowliest members of society find themselves with fairly high standards of living. She herself efficacious, outgoing, and enjoys throwing lavish parties that resemble balls in her capital, or even occasionally on board her flagship.

Much like Sederis she does have a sense of honor and obligation, particularly to those who have done good by her in the past. Commanders who impress her find promotions and bonuses, or perhaps even an invitation to her bed. And unlike many of her fellow Warlords she does not overreact to failures, following Turian example in blaming herself or their superior for placing them above their ability.

With all of that being said, there is steel hiding behind her immaculate dresses. She is absolutely ruthless and rarely shows pity or remorse over the people that she kills, and has equally little interest in reining in the 'excesses' of Terminus life. To sum it up simply; She believes in order, not morality.

As one would expect after her family's actions, she is not terribly fond of her own species and prefers to keep unknown Asari at a distance lest they prove to be yet another assassin in hiding. She likewise finds few Krogan worth her time, and considers Vorcha to be little more than vermin that walk upright.

* * *

 **Personal Combat Ability**

In her youth, Yan was never the most adamant student of the martial arts. Neither did her family encourage her to be, given that she was being groomed to be a politician rather than a commando. She was thus forced to pick up most of it during her years on the run.

As a Warlord, she trains with her bodyguards on a daily basis, and is not ashamed to bring in outside experts to teach her new combat techniques or to discuss tactics. She still does personally lead a few of her people's attacks or raids, stating that it keeps her skills sharp to do so every few months. While very capable in combat by most species standards, she is not naturally a warrior and would stand little chance in a one on one fight with equally aged Asari or Krogan.

A biotic like all Asari, she is closer to middling in terms of power rather than being capable of obscene shows of power like Aria or Sederis. For the most part this has lead her to being far more practical and open to improvisation. She routinely carries foot long metal spears designed to be easily thrown with biotics, and prefers to fight in more 'crowded' areas to use the environment against her enemy. An amusing example is the most recent Nightwind agent sent to kill her, who died when T'Ravt shattered her helmet with rifle fire before biotically throwing a stone into her mouth and down her throat. The unfortunate assassin ended up choking to death.

* * *

 **Territory & Economy**

Unlike many other Warlords, most of T'Ravt's territory is tightly knit. She prefers to control systems and clusters entirely when possible, and does not see any advantage in sprawling across space like Sederis or Yulaz. Most of her worlds are located in stellar clusters 'East' of Omega, with the fall of the Blue Suns giving her inroads into several additional areas. Her territory also has a large number of dextro-friendly worlds, and food produced there feeds most of the Turian and Quarian populations in the Terminus.

Thanks largely to migration over the past century, she controls a large number of highly populated worlds. Her 'capital' of Xentha has a population of nearly two billion and climbing, and her control of Theodosius has further boosted her numbers.

Most of her income, pre-war, came from mining and agricultural interests utilizing her large colony base. It was heavily supported by cuts from pirates raiding the Traverse and using her territory as a base to operate from. Taxation on common trade, drugs, and slaves were sufficient to pay for her administration, but her overall profits were slowing in the face of Blue Sun price cuts and die Waffe's rising economy.

Post-War things are still slightly in flux. Her acquisition of the Theodosian system and trade agreement with the Hegemony will provide massive influxes of cash and resources, although she and her monetary advisers are still evaluating just how much additional income they will have to play with.

* * *

 **Ground Forces**

Like most other Warlords, the bulk of T'Ravt's 'ground' troops are little more than thugs with guns and armor. Cheaply equipped and paid, they are used mostly to keep order on her worlds but would not be expected to put up much of a fight against anyone besides other invading Warlords.

Her more elite soldiers compromise roughly forty percent of her overall troops, and are the equivalent of any nation's line soldiers. Most of them are Batarian or Turian, though the latter compromises the majority of her officer corps. In recent decades humans have also become seen in increasing numbers, though they remain a minority compared to the older species.

The lack of trust typically shown to Asari means that her forces have fewer biotics than you might expect, requiring her troops to rely heavily on tech in replacement. While not anywhere near Heinrich die Waffe's level, use of combat mechs is heavily on the rise to supplement her garrisons and free up living troops for more active roles.

 **The Blue Suns**

The surrender of many Blue Suns groups, and their subsequent absorption into her armies, have massively bolstered her troops. As a general rule even the grunt level mercenaries were equipped with at least decent light armor and assault rifles, putting them somewhere between her second and first rate troops. Their loyalty remains somewhat suspect, however. Many of their officers were 'encouraged' to retire to try and break apart the personality cults, with the personnel themselves also being shuffled around to avoid 'pure' Blue Sun units that might go rogue. While this has undoubtedly lowered the odds of such an event, it has also disrupted unit cohesion. It will likely be some time before they settle into their new places.

 **Talon Teams**

The elite strike teams answerable only to her, her Talon Teams serve much in the same role as Sederis's Asari commandos or Aria's troubleshooters. At first only open to Turians who had proven themselves in combat, she has allowed some of the barriers around their membership to relax in recent years. Typically operating in 'Packs' of ten to fourteen, they train relentlessly in a variety of tactics to ensure that they are capable in any situation. The most elite team, decided by bi-yearly wargames and combat evaluations, serve as her personal bodyguards.

 **The Blue Legion**

Vosque's surrender gave her more than just ships and troops, it also gave her the remaining Blue Sun Legionnaires that had been entrenched on Marcian and waiting for an invasion that never came. The only former mercenary unit allowed to retain its members without her interference, she has renamed them as her Blue Legion and also let them keep their old insignia and ranks.

This has greatly eased the transition, and though the Legion's commanders remain wary there is a degree of cautious optimism that the aristocratic Asari may be a worthy retainer of their services.

 **Armament**

Most of her troops are equipped with older Turian and Batarian equipment, with some Asari tech purchased from Illium slowly trickling in to her Talon teams and line soldiers as her budget can afford such things. Though hardly top of the line, they are more than sufficient to kill people, especially their typical opponents in the Terminus.

Gaining control of Marcian and Pulcheria in Theodosius has also given her the Blue Sun armament factories, most of which are geared to produce knock-offs of Alliance equipment. While not that much of an upgrade, it at least provides her with her own production lines and will enable her to lower her imports.

* * *

 **The Fleet***

The Lady Warlord's fleet can be divided neatly into two sections. The first is her 'core' fleet, those ships purchased, built, or whose crew owed loyalty to her pre-war. The second is the Blue Suns fleet that surrendered themselves to her in the Theodosian system. Much like her 'army', the crews of all of her ships are currently in the process of being shuffled to ensure that the former mercenary vessels are not dominated by their former owners. While this is providing a short-term period of vulnerability, the long term security is worth it in her opinion.

While she was deeply impressed with the Battlecruiser delivered to her by Heinrich die Waffe, she was less impressed with how much it had cost her. Rather than continue to buy ships from his yards like her contemporaries and predecessors, she instead began to build her own shipyards above Xentha. They, along with the Blue Sun yards above Pucheria, are large enough to construct several frigates at a time, and each can also build a moderately sized cruiser at a time.

Specialty construction in Xentha's stations to allow for up to two battlecruisers and small dreadnoughts to be assembled was recently completed, though the resources initially allocated to building some of the massive ships are instead being put to a new use.

A note on ship design, much like die Waffe's and Aria's, most of her designs are a mix between Turian and Batarian influences. Salarian ships tend to require too high of a technology level, and Asari ships too much eezo. Human influence is being seen in things such as pocket carriers, and increasing experimentation with larger carrier designs (usually with human commanders and fighter pilots).

*The exact order of battle for her fleet will be provided, along with all of the other warlords, in its own chapter. What follows are simple descriptions and a few key points.

 **Core Fleet:**

Centered around her flagship, the battlecuiser _Dark Tide_ , the core fleet is currently divided into patrol groups warding off Blood Pack reinforcements, and opportunistic independents. Like most Warlords her core fleet has far more light ships than heavy ones, as they are both cheaper and more useful when it comes to raiding. This may change as her new shipyards fully come on line and begin providing her with larger vessels capable of moving in a line of battle.

 _The Dark Tide_

The latest in capital ship design from the primary Terminus shipyards, the _Dark Tide_ shifts away from the more traditional lightly armored battlecruiser concept into something closer to a 'light' dreadnought. This was done by increasing armor and broadside weaponry at the expense of some anti-fighter protection, and at a higher overall cost.

 **Blue Suns Ships**

While much of the Blue Suns fleet was destroyed over the course of the war, Vosque's caution with his larger ships proved to be a boon for the Lady Warlord in the long term. While he lost significant levels of his lighter ships, particularly during the Raydan campaign, those ships could far more easily be replaced that the expensive cruisers and capital level vessels.

Another point of good news was the unexpected arrival, and surrender, of the _Sash of Fire_ in mid-July. The ship having undergone several adventures of its own in the chaotic Terminus before finally limping into her territory.

While her overall fleet remains smaller than that of Sederis or Heinrich's, it is now more than large enough to pose a potent threat to Aria's more limited assets.

* * *

 **Politics and Relations**

* * *

 **Terminus Warlords**

 _Aria T'loak –_ Personality wise, the two could not be farther apart. Aria revels in freedom and chaos, where Yan prefers order and structure. They do, however, both respect the power that the other has accumulated. That both have no love for the Blood Pack and stand to make vast sums of credits off of Hegemony traders has brought them closer politically, if not personally.

 _Jona Sederis –_ As with Aria, neither Asari cares much for the other. Unlike with the Pirate Queen though, the Lady Warlord had little reason to interact with the Eclipse before the war. Post-War the two have met to deal with the division of the Eagle Nebula, but relations remain cool between them.

 _Heinrich die Waffe –_ Initially the two got along as well as any other pair of Warlords, but relations have definitely soured as T'Ravt worked to remove her dependency upon his shipyards. His obsession with Alliance activity in the Traverse has so far prevented him from trying anything, but the Lady Warlord believes it merely be a matter of time.

 _Gormack –_ While she has worked with him in the past, and during the war, T'Ravt believes that Gormack's time had come and gone. Though she has no desire to accelerate his retirement with conflict, she is ready to move when age finally overtakes him.

 _The Blood Pack –_ T'Ravt has never personally spoken with Yulaz, Zaen, or Garm, and would prefer to kill any of them rather than do so. Her people have shoot on sight authority anywhere off of Omega.

 **The Galaxy**

 _The Hegemony –_ An appreciator of classical Highborn culture, relations decidedly cooled thanks to Hegemony interference in her campaign against the Blue Suns. While they do now have a trade agreement in place, she is warily keeping the bulk of her new fleet in Theodosius to remind Khar'shan that the system is not up for grabs.

 _Independent Traverse Colonies –_ Worlds like Horizon and Freedom's Progress consider her a step just above Lucifer and the Hegemony. After Batarian sponsored pirates from the Dark Rim, ships operating from her star clusters are the next most prevalent raiders of their worlds.

 _The Alliance_ – The Alliance has no official opinion on T'Ravt, but behind closed doors will admit that she is a better alternative than many other warlords. Her obsession with culture and order at least provide a workable environment rather than the anarchy of a place like Omega. Still, they would not likely shed any tears if she was killed.

 _The Republics –_ Although not as disdained as Aria by her former people, T'Ravt is likewise considered little more than a trumped up bandit trying to act as though she was still civilized. That her continuing existence undermines the T'Ravt clan and their political agenda further sours their supporters against her.


	8. The Terminus: The Traverse

**Section 2: Dark Side of the Galaxy**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Traverse – Spheres of Influence**

Until the Blue Suns war changed the dynamic of the Traverse, it was largely seen as the weaker, less-threatening sibling to the Terminus systems. Much like that region of space, it has no major government and spent most of its known history divided between Warlords and various piratical groups. The primary difference was that its location nearer to the Salarian Union, and in its Citadel days, the Batarian Hegemony, left it more heavily watched and patrolled. STG and SIU teams, occasionally lead by or working with Spectres, would often infiltrate the area to eliminate problem targets before they could truly build an empire worth worrying over.

Those that did manage to gather allies and remain long enough to control systems quickly ran into their own problems. Where the Terminus had a large Asari population base to begin with, aided by additional species over the centuries, the Traverse has always been very sparsely populated. The only viable raiding targets are the governments that surround it or the Warlords in the Terminus, operations fraught with danger and the chance for disaster.

The arrival of humanity was the first major adjustment to the region since the Hegemony rose centuries prior. The Alliance's aggressive colonial policy seized the Skyllian Verge even as the Batarians were preparing to colonize the area, the political hellstorm that followed seeing the Hegemony withdraw entirely from the Council and throw its support behind the pirates and raiders it once barely tolerated or openly warred with.

The Buccaneers War, the Skyllian Blitz, and then Torfan combined to break the backs of what major groups had been able to gather some degree of power to themselves. The end result, combined with continuously heavy usage of Corsairs, was to create a 'buffer zone' around the Verge that was vigorously patrolled by the Alliance's clandestine forces. Increased STG activity made a bad situation worse for the raiding groups, and opened up even more room for corporate colonies to begin springing up.

That precarious situation lasted a mere decade or so before the Blue Suns war caused yet another dynamic shift as the Hegemony moved into the far Traverse, and the Alliance formally moved to occupy the systems they'd once left to the Corsairs. By the end of the war, the Traverse had effectively been carved up into a few zones of influence and control, illustrated below.

 **The Dark Rim Zone**

A series of five secondary relays that connect Batarian colonies in the Dark Rim to the Theodosius system (now nominally considered to be in the Terminus). Most of the systems containing the relays are sparsely occupied in terms of both planets and populations, with only two moderately sized colonies once run by the Blue Suns as agricultural centers to feed their armies.

.

Neither world's population is at all thrilled to be under the Hegemony's control. While large numbers of troops currently are able to maintain order, it is likely only a matter of time before the alien populations explode in rebellion as their new masters attempt to enforce the caste system and its slavery upon them.

In space, the Hegemony is working heavily to fortify these systems to protect the critical element zero trade ships that discharge their drive cores in these systems as they make the long journey from Omega to Khar'shan.

 **The Verge Zone**

This region consists of six star systems that have relays leading to or from the Skyllian Verge. Once heavily patrolled by the Corsairs, now Alliance frigates and light cruisers make routine trips through these systems while heavier vessels are ready no more than two relays away to rush to their assistance should any conflict arise. The increased militarism of the region has both made it safer but also more unwelcoming. Many of the colonists left the Alliance to get away from it pervasive and Earth-centric government, and have again picked up their things and ventured further into the Traverse or even into the Terminus to retain their independence.

 **The Core Zone**

The remainder of the Traverse forms the 'core' region, which is a bit of a misnomer. Despite the Alliance and Hegemony's adventurism, this area of the Traverse occupies as much space as both government's nations combined.

A chaotic and lawless region, it and its residents are less prone to extreme violence in comparison to those in the Terminus, but the average citizen from the Citadel would still never quite feel safe there. Perhaps a third of the region is divided between independent human and batarian colonies, most which are very small affairs. Many are corporately sponsored, others are simply a matter of that's where their population happened to land.

Of the remaining two thirds, many systems are uninhabited, while a smaller portion are controlled by pirate or mercenary bands.

 **Notable Worlds:**

 _Horizon –_ The largest independent human colony, its population holds no allegiance to the Systems Alliance despite the fact that the Corsairs remain the only reason the world has not been sacked a dozen times over. The Corsairs themselves are growing increasingly tired of the colonists' attitude, and it has taken two direct orders from the Admiralty to prevent them from simply letting die Waffe and T'Ravt's raiding fleets teach them to better appreciate the ones dying for their 'independence'.

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Not as much to say on the Traverse honestly... it's basically as it is in canon excepting a slightly heavier Alliance presence near the Verge, and the Batarians encroaching near the far rim._


	9. The Terminus: Warlord Heinrich die Waffe

**Section 2: The Dark Side of the Galaxy**

* * *

 **Warlord Bio II: The Steel King; Heinrich die Waffe**

* * *

 **The Basics**

 **Species** : Human

 **Sex:** Male

 **Age** : 57

 **Height** : 5'10"

 **Weight:** 270 lbs

 **Homeworld:** Earth

 **Race** : Caucasian

 **Languages Spoken:** German, Lowborn Batarian, limited Thessian

* * *

 **History**

Born Heinrich Bauer in the Berlin slums, the man who would become one of the Terminus's most powerful warlords did not have the most auspicious start to his life. His father was killed during an immigration riot when he was two, and his mother slipped into a depression that resulted in her suicide when he was five.

The next eleven years of his life were spent bouncing between life on the streets and in government assisted living. In the latter, he was able to portray himself as a diligent young man trying to rise above his lowly origins. But when out in the real world he was absolutely ruthless in ensuring his own personal safety, believing that pre-emptive strikes were preferable to waiting for people to try and attack him. Many local gang members found themselves broken and bleeding at his feet when he ambushed them, word spreading rapidly amongst them to not even make eye contract with the young man. His cunning and keen mind largely allowed him to escape the consequences of his actions, up until he made the mistake of attacking an undercover police officer who hadn't even been after him.

Though the officer survived, he was well aware that it would only be a matter of time before he was caught. Using up all of the money he had scavenged over his life, he paid off a local forger to adjust his official age to let him flee to the Systems Alliance navy at the young age of sixteen. There, his naturally fast reflexes and excellent spatial awareness quickly saw him shifted towards pilot training, and he was able to complete the normally five year course in three and a half. He was tabbed to be assigned to the newest carrier when it came online the year following his graduation, while being assigned as a shuttle pilot in the interim.

Unfortunately for Heinrich, he had been in active service for less than a year before his past came back to bite him. The man he had paid off to produce fake papers concerning his age was brought in on other charges and revealed all of the people he had 'helped' over his criminal career. Heinrich was recalled to Earth and interrogated, and though he attempted to say as little as possible the evidence quickly became damning. While the Navy may have been willing to overlook the forgery of his age, the near killing of an officer of the peace was not so easily understood. His otherwise spotless record after joining the fleet kept him from serving any jail time for either discretion, but he still received a dishonorable discharge and was effectively blacklisted.

Furious at what he saw as a betrayal from the only group that had seemed to accept him, Heinrich refused the make-shift job sympathetic officers attempted to set up for him and instead vanished again into Earth's slums. Using his experiences as a youth, in combination with his new training, he began recruiting other dissatisfied veterans and the more stable criminals he could find. Once his organization was off the ground, so to speak, they raided several private spaceports and shuttlepads used by Europe's rich and elite before using the ships to flee the planet.

His intentions of setting up a smuggling ring in the outer colonies was interrupted by the First Contact War, an event that caused him and his people to lay low until the military adventurism had quieted. Once the hostilities were ended by Asari intervention, and the galaxy itself laid open, he quickly hatched a new plan. Taking his ships into the Traverse, his small fleet became one of the first human pirate groups to operate on a galactic stage. Initially restricting their raids to small Batarian and Salarian outposts in the region, they became bolder as his disguised privateers captured increasingly large numbers of vessels.

With his increasing power, however, came increasing greed. While the Salarians had long written off the Traverse as a viable colonization zone, and the Batarians accepted the occasional raid as the price of life, the Alliance responded to the rising piracy with a new black-ops program: The Corsairs. And their first assignment was to eliminate the man already styling himself the first human 'Pirate King'.

While not nearly as famous as the Skyllian Blitz, the Corsairs called the multi-year fight that followed the Buccaneer's War. Few in the Alliance even knew it was being fought, and fewer aliens knew who the new group answered to. Only the STG is believed to know of the Corsairs, and surreptitiously aids the group when possible.

Heinrich was an incredible pilot and an capable leader, but in the end there simply wasn't sufficient infrastructure in the Traverse to support his group beyond what they could take from others. That his rag-tag fleet lasted as long as it did, especially when other groups began to prey on his people, was a remarkable achievement in itself. Despite his rage at the Alliance for again ripping away what he had built, Heinrich was not a man to stand and fight to the death.

Where other Pirate groups, increasingly on the Hegemony's payroll and furious with the Corsairs, began to band together in preparation for what would become the Blitz, Heinrich was the dissenter. Allying himself with several smaller Turian and Asari groups, they abandoned the Traverse entirely for the Terminus rather than take part in what he was sure was a suicidal venture. He was determined to get his revenge, but knew that he needed more resources, more people, and most of all more actual warships to make it happen.

Using charisma, payments, and occasionally threats, his traveling fleet swelled in size as they cruised from one end of the Terminus to the other before almost casually drifting towards the Perseus Veil. Two relays 'north' of Omega lay the expansive Stormwall shipyards, a chaotic and sprawling complex drifting above an unnamed gas giant. Once built by a Krogan warlord after the Rebellions, his death fifty years prior and left the place in the hands of a variety of groups. Nominally allied, ship production had effectively halted as none of them agreed on what they should make and who they should sell to.

Heinrich offered no warning or demands, instead launching an all out assault that quickly overwhelmed the system. He quickly earned Aria's support when he promised her that he would restart production and offer her an exclusive discount, and the other warlords were too relieved that new ships would be up for sale to be worried. That contentment shifted to concern the next year when his now reinforced fleet seized the nearby Conquest yards on the iceball world of Y-328. The worry became near panic when he followed up on that by likewise ripping what few ship production facilities were controlled by the Blood Pack. Much like the Alliance's rapid expansion, he had gained control of nearly fifty percent of the entire Terminus's ship construction in less than six years, and expanded that to nearly seventy percent he carefully expanded his newfound possessions.

Aria's continuing support protected him initially, his expanding fleet taking over his own security as more and more pirates began to join him. He offered free repairs and tune-ups to any groups that attacked Alliance space, and only minimal cuts from their take. His fleet would further stab into the Traverse to hit any known Corsairs, the group he had come to hate the most for forcing him out of the Traverse in the first place.

* * *

 **Personality**

Heinrich Bauer is a man of many contradictions. It is perhaps most accurate to examine him as two separate people, first 'Heinrich die Waffe, Pirate King of the Traverse', and then second, Heinrich Baur, the Steel King of the Terminus.

As a Pirate King in the Traverse, he was closest to his origins. He keenly remembered his hard life on the streets, and felt the 'betrayal' of the Alliance for a youthful mistake keenly. Heinrich was bold and aggressive, personally piloting his captured Batarian frigate during raids and earning the respect and adoration of his fellow pirates. He understood the lives that many of them had lived, and went out of his way to make sure that his people had better quarters, food, and cuts from their loot than any of his competitors.

After being driven from the Traverse by the Corsairs, and seizing the Stormwall shipyards, he began to change. His own enjoyment of the comforts he gave to his people saw him traveling less and remaining within the yard's control center. Muscles slowly sagged as he indulged in the fine food and drink that a Warlord could afford. His hatred towards his former government and its Corsairs still burns brightly, but he has become content to fight a proxy war with the pirates that he supports rather than bother to leave his palatial suites.

Despite his increasingly gluttony, his mind is still sharp and he remains wary of threats to his newest kingdom. Cunning, intelligent, and surprisingly charismatic, he is well aware of his people's limitations and has largely done his best to remain uninvolved in the periodic bickering and wars in the Terminus.

* * *

 **Personal Combat Ability**

In his youth he was one of humanity's best pilots and seemed destined to become an air group commander aboard one of the Alliance's great fleet carriers. He proved that he remained an exceptional pilot during his time in the Traverse, and picked up reasonable close combat ability during boarding operations.

More recently, however, his personal strength could be best described as negligible. While he still does enjoy pilot simulators, and could still likely fly circles around most pilots, many of skills have atrophied as his waist has expanded. Anyone who could fight their way through his fleet and personal guard would find little challenge in killing him.

* * *

 **Territory & Economy**

All of his territory lies in the 'Northern' region of the Terminus, sharing that region of space with the Blood controls few actual planets, largely only those captured because they had frigate or shuttle production facilities on their surface.

Most of his 'territory' is in space, consisting of stations and asteroid facilities sprawling across the region. Thus, while he is one of the wealthiest warlords, the population under his control is lower even than that of Aria. What few planets he does control are ruthlessly defended however, with strict access rules to protect the farming that feeds his organization.

Virtually all of his income stems from ships built and sold to the other Warlords, Pirate Kings, or even independent groups. As the Stormwall yards were, up until the opening of T'Ravt's Xentha yards, the only facility capable of properly building capital ships in the Terminus, their production and sales alone made him wealthier than any but Omega's queen. In more recent years he has also begun building mech production factories, producing LOKI and RAMPART knock-offs to the Eclipse and others.

Up until the Blue Sun War, his only real rivals for ship production were Aria's Omega yards, the limited setup on Xentha, and what the Blue Suns controlled in Theodosius. But as Aria works to upgrade her lines, and T'Ravt likewise expands the facility in Xentha's orbit, he and his people are growing increasingly concerned that his monopoly might be coming to an end sooner than they would like.

* * *

 **Ground Forces**

Next to non-existent. Heinrich has never had any real affinity for ground warfare, and to him planets are only interesting for the resources that they hold and the workers that they can provide. Everyone who joins his fleet receives at least some instruction in close combat in case of boarding action, or for when raiding colonies, but their equipment is restricted to whatever they can scavenge.

At the urging of some of his advisers, mostly those fellow pirate leaders who fled the Terminus with him, most of the newly built mechs within his territory are being kept for his people's own use. Deployed as the first wave during raids, they have led to a noticeable reduction in personnel losses.

* * *

 **The Fleet***

Unsurprisingly, The Steel King commands the largest fleet in the Terminus. While he might sell many ships to Aria, the Blue Suns, or T'Ravt, the bulk of his production has always been committed to expanding his own assets. Not having to bother with things like pay for the mechs and slave labor who work the yards, he routinely hires experts and pilgrims from the Migrant Fleet to direct the strip-mining operations that fuel his war machine.

Most of the warships that come from his yards are uniquely Terminus in design, incorporating Turian, Human, Batarian, and even ancient Krogan design elements. Many of his older vessels are more typical of what you might find in the Traverse, and are predominantly Batarian built with a sizable portion of human construction thrown in.

His has surprisingly few capital ships, preferring to sell them to his fellows rather than bother with the upkeep for them, and what few he does have rarely leave their defensive patrols around his core facilities. The bulk of his personal fleet consists of cruisers of various designs, and are likely the most advanced vessels in use in the Terminus. His designers, many hired away from corporate groups, are constantly looking to do more with the technology available to the, resulting in surprisingly powerful ships that can still be built with what many would consider inferior equipment.

*The exact order of battle for her fleet will be provided, along with all of the other warlords, in its own chapter.

* * *

 **Politics and Relations**

* * *

 **Terminus Warlords**

 _Aria T'loak –_ Likely the closest ally that Aria has, she and Heinrich work closely with one another although he remains careful to treat her as the superior Warlord. Paid in eezo, his yards began an overhaul of her black fleet that is still ongoing, an arrangement likely to become more lucrative for him in the wake of the war. Things have become tense between them in recent years as she has pressed for his people to assist her in upgrading the asteroid shipyards that orbit Omega, a task that he understandably is hesitant to perform.

 _Jona Sederis –_ Heinrich and the Eclipse have never quite gotten along. Sederis has never had any real need to utilize Terminus production facilities, instead simply buying off old Republic mothballs and retro-fitting them in Illium's corporate shipyards. Though he has been careful not to antagonize the unstable Asari, his irritation that she is unaffected by his monopoly colors their interaction.

 _Yan T'Ravt –_ Initially Heinrich worked very closely with the rising Lady Warlord, offering her choice production designs. This closeness was largely a result of how her own pirate fleets routinely raided the Traverse, and how her ships often ended up in shooting matches with the Corsairs that he loathed. Relations have definitively soured in the war's wake however, as T'Ravt has largely removed any dependence on his ship production. Some of his advisers actually have begun to push him to strike at her before she can attempt to cut into their profits, but he remains hesitant as Aria so far has tolerated her fellow Asari.

 _Gormack –_ As Gormack is entirely reliant upon Heinrich for both ships and repairs, the human is gracious with the old Salarian and is quick to offer his public support. But much like T'Ravt, he knows that Gormack's health is failing, and has quietly begun to make inroads to see if he can absorb what he can when the time comes.

 _The Blood Pack –_ Unlike Aria or T'Ravt, Heinrich has little problem with the Blood Pack. What few ships they have are produced by him, and both Zaen and Yulaz regard him very highly for dusting off the designs for Krogan dreadnoughts. Building one for each of them was sufficient for them to give him and his people protection for life from their raids, and he likewise avoids antagonizing the people he sells to.

 **The Galaxy**

 _The Hegemony –_ While he does perform limited trade with Hegemony colonies in the Dark Rim, Heinrich has little regard for the Hegemony proper. He blames them both for starting the Blitz in the first place, as well as not giving it the total support required for it to work, leading to the death of any hope he might have had of returning to his glory days raiding the Verge.

 _Independent Traverse Colonies –_ Loathed as much as T'Ravt and the Hegemony for his part in the raids that colonists consistently fear. While the independents have no love for the Alliance itself, he has given them an appreciation for the Corsairs, whose ships often find quiet refuges on worlds like Horizon.

 _The Alliance_ – While he has always hated the Alliance since his discharge, The Buccaneer's War led to a mutual loathing as the Corsairs quickly grew to hate their enemy. Many are eager for the day when the so called 'Weapon' emerges from the Terminus once again so that he can finally be killed.

 _The Citadel Nations –_ He is second only to Aria in priority targets for assassination by the Citadel, as his death would once again destabilize ship production in the Terminus. His presence deep in that region of space, and his tight alliances with other warlords, has made that a difficult prospect however. So far only one unofficial attempt has been made by the STG, whose team was killed trying to transition through Omega long before they even made it to his territory.


	10. The Terminus: Omega

**Section 2: Dark Side of the Galaxy**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Omega**

Originally an Asari mining complex and military outpost, then attacked and abandoned dozens of times over several centuries, captured and expanded by Turian Warlords, and then seized by a Krogan Battlemaster has left Omega a chaotic affair that could symbolize the entire Terminus if it wished.

A general rule that has been maintained through all of its owners is that the closer you are to its core, the better and easier your life is likely to be. The farther from the open cavern that leads to the eezo mines you are, the less the station's rulers care about your existence.

As Aria has no wish to reign over a dead or dying station, she has maintained several of the Patriarch's policies. The most critical of which is securing the station's water and food supplies with her personal commandos, and distributing it from singular locations within each district (excepting Kima). No one outside of her organization is allowed to even inspect the water mains or ventilation shafts that run through the station. Even negligently touching the systems is a death sentence, and anyone attempting to compromise the station's food supply results in the offender being strung up in front of Afterlife to be killed by the crowd.

* * *

 **The Core Districts**

Formed by whatever calamity split Omega apart, the core is a open cavern sealed with barriers to leave a basic atmosphere trapped within the asteroid. Spiraling tunnels bored into the rock over centuries lead to the mines, while others travel downwards to allow airborne traffic to reach the lower reaches.

 _Afterlife's District_

Built into the side of the core, and spanning more than a dozen levels, Afterlife is Aria's throne. Formerly the station's sprawling command center, roughly half of it has been converted to the club that is open to the public. The remaining half is kept excluded and sealed at all times except to Aria's personal forces, and includes the critical control rooms and other equipment required to keep the station and its mines working. Surrounding it is its attendant district, filled with high end shops, bars, casinos, and penthouses.

That area covers roughly half way around the core, the remaining half is entirely devoted to docking and hangers for Aria's personal fleet, including massive berths for her dreadnoughts, as well as apartment complexes where their crews can relax while on shore leave and be shuttled to private sections of Afterlife without having to deal with the common rabble.

 _Tuhi District_

Located directly below Afterlife, Tuhi has been the heart of slaving in the Terminus for nearly nine centuries. Designed and built by Tharsus himself after his seizure of the asteroid, it remained largely unchanged until Batarian slavers arrived. While deeply impressed with what the ancient Turian had done, they thought it could use some additional work and upgraded many of the facilities.

The center of the district resembles a multi-story prison, topped off with the actual markets above them. Slavers rent cell blocks from Aria's managers to utilize, transporting their cargo up and own specially designed lifts. The remainder of the district, bracketing the prison core, and consists of living areas, restaurants, and shops that largely exist and cater to those coming and going to the markets.

 _Fumi District_

Bordering Tuhi, Fumi is the only district open entirely to the core. Originally built as a massive barracks complex for Turian soldiers by Tharsus's grandson, it resembles a stepped city built into a cliff face. The majority of the buildings are built into the rock itself, while the streets hang outwards over-top of the next level down. Beginning as Omega's core slopes downwards, the district works its way downwards over the course of a dozen levels before reaching the cavern floor, with hundreds of eezo pylons working to maintain a secondary barrier over the streets and buildings.

Currently controlled by the Talons, Fumi could be considered the 'upper middle class' region of Omega. Pirate Captains and other well-off criminals often make their home in the highly secure Turin-designed structures. While not safe by Citadel standards, you are less likely to be randomly attacked in Fumi than you are anywhere else on station.

 _Zeta District_

On the opposite side of Tuhi from Fima, Zeta is also known as the 'sealed' district. This is where the miners and merchant sailors who maintain the station's eezo trade live. Anyone coming or going is heavily checked by Aria's troops, and traffic is strictly controlled to the point where it is more reliable to ask miners who have retired as to what life is like inside rather than attempting to enter at all.

While their lives are not perfect, Aria ensures the primary provider's of her wealth are relatively well cared for and have ample opportunity to indulge in vices. Largely built into the ancient remnants of Asari construction, it is the most 'elegant' district in terms of appearance, though the appearance means little. A cynical person would note that the drugs and whores Aria provides her workers are charged for, the same money she pays them for mining and hauling eezo returning to her accounts nearly as quickly as it comes out.

* * *

 **The Base Districts**

Located beneath the core, the base districts refer to their location at the 'base' of the massive spire stretching down and away from the asteroid proper. The first several levels are devoted entirely to one of the largest docking and hanger complexes in the known galaxy, circling three hundred and sixty degrees around the station and descending nearly fifteen stories.

 _Doru District_

If an individual claims to have 'been to Omega', but never mentions having lived there, they likely only ever saw Doru. Stretching inwards from the base hangers to the central column, Doru holds everything a spacer might dream of wanting. Restaurants, hotels, casinos, bars, pubs, brothels, slave markets, stores hawking exotic wares... If it's known to the galaxy, it's likely for sale somewhere in Doru. Unwary travelers occasionally find that that rule applies to themselves as well, and veteran ship crews wisely travel in groups rather than move alone. The Eclipse maintains a significant enclave in Doru.

 _Cala District_

Located directly beneath Doru, Cala is thirty levels deep within the spire and compromised almost entirely of residential areas for the workers of Doru. A series of unwritten rules keeps the violence down in Cala, as most of the workers simply want to relax and rest after a long shift in Doru. Conflicts are usually settled in the lowers, and those outsiders who are stupid enough to attempt to start something often find large sections of the population uniting to drive them back out.

* * *

 **The Lower Districts**

The three lower districts reach downwards from the base, located within the pylon that stretches away from Omega proper. By any stretch of the imagination these are not locations where people often willingly live, and are considered to be violent, squalid, and brutal even by Omega's standards. Each of the three lower districts borders the other two, all three concurrently dropping downwards.

 _Gozu_

Once the heart of the Blue Sun operations on Omega, they made token efforts to clean the place up before simply recruiting desperate fodder from the population. While it is the 'best' of the lower districts, that isn't saying much, most of the district resembling projects or slums. Currently it is controlled by Warlord T'Ravt after she seized it from the True Sons, though only time will tell if her people are able to affect any kind of change.

 _Kenzo_

Until the Blue Suns' collapse, Kenzo was the front line of the fighting between themselves and the Blood Pack. Their collapse left a void in power, with numerous gangs rushing to fill it. The district remains little more than a warzone, smaller gangs rising and collapsing on almost a daily basis.

 _Kima_

The Blood Pack's seat of power on Omega, Kima bears clear markings of Krogan occupation. Few non-Vorcha still live in Kima, having wisely fled rather than try to survive the kill or be killed society that the Blood Pack enforce. Kima has the smallest population as a result, and even Aria's people long ago gave up attempting to maintain the district's systems.

* * *

 **Gangs & Other Notable Groups**

The list that follows is merely the 'major' gangs and groups currently active on Omega. There are obviously dozens, if not over a hundred, smaller groups of individuals that have banded together for one reason or another, but they largely lack the ability to effect change on the station in the way the following organizations can.

 **The Talons**

 **Type:** Paramilitary Police Force / Gang

 **Warlord** : Aria T'loak

 **Leader** : Commander 'Red' (Nyreen Kandros)

Originally a small, profit focused gang that concentrated on drug running, it was nearly wiped out during the Blue Sun War after its leadership attempted a foolhardy attack on Captain Tarik's headquarters. Reorganized by a mysterious Turian female known only as 'Red' in the wake of the disaster, she rebuilt them into something closer to a para-military police force.

Drug running and protection rackets have been cut down to the minimal required to pay her people's salaries, while her recruiters quickly found a large well of support for a gang whose primary focus was to protect the nominal civilian population and cut down on the random violence. Currently in control of most of Fumi district and lower portions of Tuhi, they have quickly risen to be one of the largest and most well run gangs on the station.

 **The White Tigers**

 **Type:** Gang

 **Warlord:** Aria T'loak

Founded by disaffected Alliance veterans from the Buccaneers War, the gang has a notable anti-Batarian bias and typically only recruits humans and Turians into their ranks. Asari are allowed entry only if they are bondmates to another recruit or an existing member. They are easily identifiable by the white war paint that its members habitually wear, and focus heavily on training their members up to a military standard. This makes them a cut above most other groups on the station and gives them a significant advantage when it comes to lowering the casualties they suffer. Unfortunately, their low incomes force them to make do with relatively mediocre equipment which often negates their skill advantage.

Nominally allied with the Talons, their primary territory lies in Doru District, though they do hold scattered regions elsewhere on the station.

 **The Brotherhood of the Fallen**

 **Type:** Religious Order

 **Warlord:** Aria T'loak

 **Leader:** Eldest Brother Kith

Founded by a Turian priest who found himself drawn to Quarian Ancestor worship while on a diplomatic mission to Rannoch. Taking what elements of it that called to him and blending it with traditional Turian spirit worship, he abandoned his mission to preach his new faith on Omega rather than return to Palaven. Quickly finding a receptive audience in the young and disaffected on the station, many of whom created a martial order to defend their new religion.

A combination of a gang, a mercenary unit, and a religious movement, the Brotherhood of the Fallen primarily recruits Turians and Terminus Quarians, although the children of Batarian exiles have been known to join as well. They operate primarily in Doru and Cala, defending the shops and homes of the faithful while doing odd-jobs on the side to help provide for themselves and their bretheren.

 **The Cresting Wave**

 **Type:** Mercenary Group

 **Warlord:** Aria T'loak

 **Leader:** Huntress Chiek

The oldest organization still active on Omega is the Cresting Wave, originally founded by Asari slaves who revolted against their Turian owners more than a century before the Patriarch even considered attacking the station. Easily identifiable by their sky-blue armor, they recruit only Asari members and prefer those matrons who are down on their luck and have little other choice but to join.

Organized by squad sized 'Cabals', they hire themselves out to anyone willing to pay their fees for nearly any task the customer may desire. A Cabal may be raiding the lower levels for slaves one day, selling themselves as prostitutes the next, and killing the people they just slept with for credits the day after that.

Their equipment tends to be on the upper end by Omega's standards, and many of the older Cabals have been working exclusively together for decades or even centuries. However, as others are composed entirely of desperate maidens, the quality of their fighters varies wildly.

 **The Hunters of Shadows**

 **Type:** Gang

 **Warlord:** Aria T'loak

 **Leader:** Boss Juyl

Once a much larger gang, the Hunters of Shadows have found themselves increasingly on the defensive over the past few years, surrendering much of their premier territory to the Talons and White Tigers. One of the few gangs with few racial hang-ups, they will take anyone with a gun willing to bear their mark and follow orders.

Heavily involved in Omega's drug scene, they usually avoid the more lucrative slave trade because of the investment and time required to see a profit.

 **The True Sons**

 **Type:** Gang

 **Warlord:** None

 **Leader:** None

While their primary bases have fallen, there are still a few scattered detachments of the True Sons operating on Omega. Founded on the principles of representing the short-lived species against the Asari dominated Terminus, and not being too found of the even longer lived Krogan either, they were quickly swamped with recruits and saw their numbers balloon.

Unfortunately, this brought them to the attention of the Blue Suns, and saw the group effectively co-opted by the PMC for its own purposes. During the various operations that followed, it eventually came to light that the group was enslaving as many people as it could acquire for use as cannon fodder, completely ignoring the unwritten rules on Omega (as well as the written ones concerning giving Aria her cut). It took little encouragement from Aria to see the other gangs turn on them, tearing the upstarts apart in a matter of months.

Heavily tainted by the group's past actions or not, there is enough resentment on Omega and in the Terminus in general against Asari that they will likely recover if the remnants can organize themselves effectively.

 **The Eclipse – Omega Detachment**

 **Type:** PMC

 **Warlord:** Jona Sederis

 **Leader:** Commander Jarroth

The Eclipse detachment on Omega is relatively small, but highly profitable as they are responsible for a significant percentage of the drugs that enter the station (largely from Illium). Operating primarily from a small enclave on Doru, including their own docking and hanger facilities, they also possess numerous small outposts throughout the station to facilitate their trading.

While obviously under Sederis' command, they have standing orders to provide Aria with whatever support she requires provided that: A – she compensates them appropriately, and B – it doesn't harm Eclipse interests elsewhere.


	11. The Terminus: Illium & Xentha

**Section 2: Dark Side of the Galaxy**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Capital Worlds**

While Omega is the black heart of the Terminus in both location and culture, the capital worlds of Jona Sederis and Yan T'Ravt are major factors in influencing Terminus politics and warfare on their own, and deserve some attention.

* * *

 **Illium**

Nominally an Asari corporate colony, Illium is a very young world by Asari standards having only been colonized four centuries ago. Located in the same system as one of the three prime relays leading into the Terminus systems made it a natural trade hub even before the formal colonization efforts, and a popular discharge location for independent merchants.

In more modern times the planet is a massive trade hub specializing in goods that are typically illegal in Citadel Space, with a large amount of additional revenue brought in from wealthy tourists hoping to indulge themselves. Nominally a planet with very few laws, but a large amount of regulations, it's often said that murder and slavery are the only things not allowed without the right contract.

The planet's ruling board does allow for a form of indentured servitude which theoretically have a wide variety of rules governing how such individuals should be treated and conditions under which such agreements can be made. In reality, the people tricked, pressured, or desperate enough to sign such deals are treated in a varied fashion. Corporations, oddly, tend to have a better track record than individuals, as the Illium media can be absolutely vicious when it comes to exposing ill-treatment as a means of harming otherwise untouchable groups.

While nominally a garden world, the planet is abysmally hot and extremely humid thanks to its many seas and location relative to its sun. As a result nearly all of the population lives in the temperate bands nearer the polar regions, with limited arcologies located further south. Those in the lower regions are primarily agricultural in focus and are rarely visited by offworlders, who prefer to visit Nos Astra and Nos Irrail, the two largest cities on planet (accounting for nearly twenty percent of its population between them).

 _Nos Astra_

Nos Astra is a lesson in contradictions, a delicate balance between Asari sensibility and Terminus ruthlessness. The area surrounding the primary starport and the skyscrapers of Nos Astra proper are one of the safest areas in the galaxy thanks to an extreme focus on corporate security, and the open sale of any vice that credits can buy make it an extremely popular tourist destination. Things shift as one leaves for the suburban cities and 'ground' areas of Nos Astra however. While I-Sec does what they can, the Board of Directors ensures that nearly all of their budget is allocated to the Nos Astran division, who are most concerned with the downtown arcology buildings, leaving local corporate interests and public groups to manage for themselves elsewhere.

Directly inland of the ocean-front downtown is the River District, the primary residential region. Largely a middle-class neighborhood populated by the workers from Nos Astra affluent enough to own their own homes and large apartments.

Bordering both the River District and Nos Astra to the north is the Manufacturing Zone, which is as industrial as the name would imply. Its primary, and unfortunate, claim to fame is the non-Asari slums that stretch north of the city, filled with indentured servants and others who tried and failed to make it.

To the southwest of the River District is Khar'shan Minor, the largest single enclave of Batarians outside of the Hegemony and Omega. Founded by Gehari Shaaryak two centuries prior, near the end of the Hegemony's Golden Age, it was intended to be the last stop on a grand trade lane that would run from Khar'shan, through the Traverse, to Omega and then through the Republics. As relations and profits worsened, only a small mansion and attendant starport were completed before the family pulled the rest of their investment. Smaller highborn and midcaste families still made a modest effort, but did little more than create a tiny enclave that was swiftly populated by exiles who preferred peaceful, comfortable lives rather than those of crime or piracy.

The farthest inland from the polar ocean is the Western Reaches, a sprawling mass of sub-cities and expansion zones. With few offworld visitors and little direct corporate ownership, it is neatly separated from most of the problems found elsewhere.

 _Nos Irrail_

Once described as 'What Illium is really like, under the false glamour.' by a visiting Spectre, Nos Irrail is the second largest city on the planet, and lays directly opposite Nos Astra across the polar ocean.

A sprawled mix of residential and industrial complexes, the city's main claim to fame is that it is the home of the Eclipse's corporate headquarters. As one might expect, this causes it to be avoided by the same crowds that flock to Nos Astra, but that is not to say that it is not busy. Outside of Omega it is one of the more common locations to find mercenary units, large and small, congregating for one reason or another, and at least three Council Spectres have their own bases within the city. While not unwelcome per-say, the city becomes noticeably tense when they are town. Fortunately for all involved they rarely linger, instead recruiting from amongst the local freelancers willing to tag along on their latest suicide mission for the right price.

The local I-Sec captain openly answers to Jona Sederis rather than the I-Sec Executor, as one might expect, ensures that the populace are very much allowed to handle their own affairs.

 _The Board of Directors_

The rulers of Illium in name only, the Board of Directors consists of seven individuals with specific ownership stakes in major corporations. On paper their duty is to adjust and tweak local laws to maintain the world's delicate balance, and to manage I-Sec's budget and global direction. In reality they accomplish little beyond political bickering, only coming to decisions when their profit lines are threatened.

 _Military Presence_

While the planet does not have a standing army or fleet of its own thanks to specific laws and regulations agreed to between the first Directors and the Republics, it is assuredly not defenseless.

 _Ground Forces_

Both Nos Astra and Nos Irrail possess highly sophisticated ground-to-space batteries concealed both inside of and around the cities, and it is known that there are silos housing fission weaponry beneath the polar sea and under the control of I-Sec's executor. I-Sec itself, much like the organization it is patterned after, is as much a militia as it is a police force. If all of their officers were pulled in from all offices on planet, they have sufficient numbers to protect Nos Astra against most conventional opponents.

Supplementing I-Sec's official forces are the tens of thousands of soldiers who work for the various major corporations and private-military-companies, as well as many thousands more of gangers and freelancers who consider the planet home. While most of the latter are not what you would call 'military types', they know their streets and how to fight dirty, and the fact that most are Asari with decades to centuries of experience makes hem far more lethal than their equivalents in other species.

The largest military force on planet remains the Eclipse, however. At any given time more than half of the organization's manpower is likely on planet, either working local contracts or enjoying leave before shipping back out to the Terminus or Traverse. Even discounting I-Sec and the smaller mercenary groups, most military analysts from the Republics agree that Sederis' private army could easily hold the planet against her fellow Warlords even if several of them allied with one another.

 _Naval Forces_

There are three principle 'fleets' usually operating in the Tasale system.

The first of which is the Republics small system defense fleet, loaned out to the planet's corporate government to protect the colonists in the early years of colonization. Shrewd negotiations kept it in place long after it was needed, though the Board was less thrilled after realizing that the Republics had largely duped them. As the fleet's location ensures that it occasionally sees combat, unlike most other Republic fleets, it made an ideal group to assign trainees for seasoning. Typically includes up to ten light cruisers and as many as thirty frigates, the fleet is typically tasked with running down those stupid enough to try and raid shipping in system.

The second fleet is the smallest and belongs to I-Sec. Consisting of a dozen modified frigates, their primary heavy weapons were removed in favor of additional space for boarding pods and GARDIAN defense batteries. These cutters are used to run down smugglers that manage to escape the planet's atmosphere, board them, and drag them back to be dealt with appropriately.

The Eclipse's Golden Armada is the largest fleet in system, as one might expect. Prior to the Blue Suns' War, the group's fleet was split equally between Illium and Omega, but with their larger territory many ships have left to consolidate their new systems. Currently there are two capital ships in service and protecting the world, with two more being overhauled in the planet's orbital shipyards.

* * *

 **Xentha**

An otherwise unremarkable garden world, Xentha is one of the few in the Terminus where the local ecosystem is dextro-amino compatible. The planet's geography is rather typical for a garden world, with lush jungles and deserts near the equatorial regions and bands of temperate forests and savannahs stretching north and south from there.

It was a prime target for Quarian colonization after its discovery roughly three hundred and fifty years ago. In the aftermath of the planet's sacking mere months after the Morning War, there were perhaps eight or nine million Quarians on planet with barely enough infrastructure to keep themselves alive. Now, a mere three centuries later, the planet's population has exploded to nearly two billion, the majority of which are Turian.

After the Quarian population was enslaved by several Krogan and Asari warlords, the latter muscled out the former by allying themselves with two major Turian run PMC's who quickly drove the Krogan and their Vorcha off planet and even managed to steal most of the Quarians allotted to them. The cycle of betrayal and backstabbing continued, as the most powerful Turian commander wasted little time in realizing that Xentha was a prize, consolidating both companies under his authority before assassinating both of the Asari and buying off their subordinates.

He and his eldest son wasted little time in declaring open immigration for their own people, inviting dozens of pirate groups to join them with the offer of Quarian slaves to repair and maintain their ships at rates that the dockyards at Omega couldn't match for the quality of work done. Initially it seemed that he or his heir would be the newest major warlord in the Terminus, and during his long life he made increasing strides in that direction by starting construction on shipyards both on planet and in orbit, managing the trade of dextro food to Omega and other Terminus worlds for eezo and other materials.

Unfortunately for his dreams, his son became inconsolably smitten with Yan T'Ravt when the rising warlord visited to work out a trade deal. Shortly after his father's death, he essentially handed the world to the Asari who wasted little time in making it her capital (after suppressing the expected riots and attempts by dissenters to protest).

The new ruler expanded heavily on her predecessor's plans, luring tens of thousands of Turians and Asari to the planet with the promise of a more organized form of governance. She additionally relaxed some of the restrictions on the local Quarian population, buying out many of their slave contracts and shifting them to an indentured deal, letting them work their way to freedom. This was less an act of largesse on her part than not wanting to deal with the constant minor sabotage that they'd affected on their previous masters, and realizing that grateful employees were more reliable than irritated slaves.

As a result of the dominant Turian population, the planet's cities resemble those of Palaven in being more fortresses in depth than the residential sprawls of other species. When they run out of defensible space to expand into, new construction is started elsewhere, leaving the planet littered with hundreds of mid-sized cities rather than a few massive sprawls like many other colonial worlds.

 _Celthani_

The planetary capital is Celthani, located in the southern hemisphere within a major mountain range. The city itself surrounds a long river valley whose soils feeds its (dextro) population, with major fortifications blocking the few mountain passes that would provide land access. For aerial protection, several of the nearby mountains have had their tops flattened into plateaus to mount massive anti-air and ground-to-space w, with more batteries scattered through the city proper.

The city's primary places of interest are T'Ravt's palace complex, the Old District, and the Cove. The former is built onto one of the small plateaus overlooking the valley. Like the other buildings in the area, it was built with the Turian emphasis on practicality and defensibility, and is much a command center as it is a palace. While the perimeter may be decorated with bunkers and automated defenses, the interior is as extravagant as Sederis's more traditional mansion in Nos Astra and even includes a grand ballroom where the Lady Warlord often hosts fetes for her captains and important members of Xentha's population.

For it's part, the Old District is the largest single collection of Quarians outside of the Migrant Fleet, with nearly a million of them living near the Warlord's palace in their own enclosed compound. Outsiders who aren't members of T'Ravt's personal army are rarely welcomed, and those stupid enough to enter without permission can find their life expectancy measured in minutes and pieces of themselves taken as trophies to warn away further attempts to encroach. Those few who are welcomed find the place incredible from a historical perspective, and their hosts congenial if rough around the edges.

The Cove is the city's largest draw for offworlders, especially pirates and slavers returning from runs to the Traverse. Essentially a massive cul-de-sac attached to the city's largest starport, it is filled with vendors hawking everything that a Terminus Captain could want, from weapons to supplies, from slaves to entire starships. The surrounding buildings hold stores more aimed at purchasing the loot being brought back, giving T'Ravt's people their cut before either filtering the goods to be sold to other captains or elsewhere in the city. Not far away are several hotels and resorts aimed to cater to the same pirates and their like, part of T'Ravt's concentrated efforts to make her world the next best option to Omega to conduct operations from.

 _Military Defenses_

Xentha holds the amusing privilege of being the only major Terminus world not to have been raided within the last century. Part of this is T'Ravt's increasing power and fleet strength, but more honestly it is simply due to the planet's population. Turians who have fled the Hierarchy remain as martially dedicated as their kin, though their young are inducted into their parent's gangs or warbands instead of a professional military. As a result, not only is nearly the entire population armed (not unusual in the Terminus), but the vast majority actually know how to use their weapons (which is).

The planet's massive population also works as its own defense, as even the larger pirate bands would be hard pressed to suppress a city to be looted and ravaged while fending off innumerable counter-attacks from others.

From her point of view, this has allowed T'Ravt to keep a surprisingly minimal level of her personal troops on planet, keeping only sufficient forces to protect the Capital and allowing the various elected, hereditary, or despotic governors in the other cities manage their own affairs provided that they follow the laws she has dictated and pay their tithes. As she gives them a very free range to operate, and maintains the threat of her warfleet in orbit in case they get ambitious, most remain at least tacitly loyal.

In regards to the fleet, she typically retains at least two to three of her capital ships in orbit along with sufficient escorts. A small fleet's worth of warships and converted vessels are also typically present being overhauled or repaired in her various shipyards, and typically there are well over a hundred independent ships or members of pirate gangs in system at any given time.


	12. The Terminus: The Warlords

**Section 2: Dark Side of the Galaxy**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Warlords**

What follows is a list of the major warlords of the Terminus, excluding die Waffe and T'Ravt who have their own chapters. The current era has fewer of such individuals than were operating even a century prior, as the Blue Suns absorbed several medium sized groups in their early years, and T'Ravt has made it a policy to do the same whenever possible in order to supplement her high-end forces.

While the Warlords of this chapter are the premier powers in the Terminus, Traverse, and Dark Rim, their control is not as absolute as that of the Citadel Governments. With one partial exception, all of them rely heavily on a network of smaller gangs, warbands, and independent corporations in much the same way as a feudal lord might have relied upon vassals and knights errant. For the most part these vassal groups simply provide tithes of credits or materials taken during their raids, in exchange they're allowed to use whatever facilities their warlord possesses and have the safety of that warlord's protection.

The system quite naturally breaks down on a regular basis as hotheaded ship captains or gang leaders do things that cause their nominal protectors to abandon them, or their 'allies' to turn on them. This is obviously more common on more remote planets, as Warlords such as Aria or T'Ravt typically move with extreme alacrity to punish any attempt to buck their rule.

Additionally, these are only the largest commanders, there are dozens of minor pirate leaders who command anywhere from a handful to a few dozen vessels for their own operations.

* * *

 **Aria T'loak**

 **Species:** Asari

 **Sex** : N/A

 **Age:** Unknown, believed to be between 500 and 800

Not caring about fancy titles, Aria T'loak is widely considered to be the most powerful of the Terminus Warlords thanks to her iron-fisted control over Omega and the Sahrabarik system. While her personally fleet of warships is minimal compared to some of the others, Omega's defensive systems could easily stand off entire battlefleets. Its location allows her to demand massive tithes from the innumerable ships that traverse the system and dock to discharge, and its massive eezo stockpiles ensure a large enough flow of credits to make her one of the wealthiest beings in the galaxy.

In terms of personal power, she is considered to be one of the top five or six most powerful biotics alive, and the current Citadel consideration is that it even a dozen Spectres with support would be unlikely to eliminate her and her personal guard. If she could be said to have a weakness it is in her own arrogance and temper, along with an unwillingness to delegate that leaves many of her subordinates loath to take initiative.

 **Region:** Terminus

 **Capital:** Omega

 **Troops:** Most of Aria's forces possess highly modern Asari patterned weapons purchased from Illium, and have extensive training in their use. However, as she mostly relies on Omega's native gangs for thugpower when required, her personal retinue is relatively small in number.

 **Fleet:** Aria's Black Fleet is relatively small, but like her personal army is extremely well armed and equipped with the latest vessels from die Waffe's Stormwall yards.

* * *

 **Jona Sederis, Mistress of the Eclipse**

 **Species:** Asari

 **Sex:** N/A

 **Age:** 626

Widely regard as insane, at one time Sederis was considered the darling of the Republics media after her small mercenary band rallied Illium's defenses against raiders, standing off several raids before she personally dealt with the Warlord leading the attack. Her popularity and apparent dedication to providing 'honest' mercenary work provided a wealth of recruits and even options to purchase decommissioned Republics equipment.

It all came crashing down when a Blood Pack Warlord and his krannt killed everyone close to her in a daring raid on Nos Astra while she was away on business. Heshena T'Laria, who was both her best friend and mind healer, along with T'laria's bondmate and most of her children, drove the already unstable Asari insane with rage. The final nail in her mental coffin was the lose of her bond-mate and her favorite daughter in the fighting that followed, leaving her a mental wreck that retained her position only thanks to her prodigious personal power. The Eclipse waned over the following century, their fortunes rising when she was lucid, and declining when she lashed out at perceived slights.

Her near capture at the start of the Blue Suns war began a shift in her, coinciding with the stunning news that Trena T'laria, Heshena's youngest daughter, was still alive and have avoided her for the past hundred years. The combination saw her drink herself comatose, leaving her vulnerable enough to be ambushed by her own daughters. Sick of their mother's issues, the pair of them forced her to start taking medication as well as begin seeing a new mind healer, an action she has not forgiven either of them for.

While still unstable, she is now sane enough to properly direct the Eclipse once again, successfully directing them to several victories during the Blue Sun war and dealing with several traitors who hadn't expected her to recover her faculties.

 **Region** : Terminus

 **Capital:** Nos Irrail, Illium

 **Troops:** Originally consisting of Asari and Salarian recruits only, though now also allowing humans entry, the Eclipse focuses on combined arms in their main formations. Large numbers of combat mechs are often used to supplement their troops, while elite commando formations are held in reserve to eliminate critical targets.

 **Fleet:** After Sederis's rampage, the Republics predictably ceased all sales to the Eclipse, but by that point they had a core fleet of highly advanced warships at their disposal, though many are now very dated in comparison to modern Republics designs. They continue to purchase vessels from corporate yards on Illium, as well as from T'Ravt's on Xentha and die Waffe's Stormwall station.

* * *

 **Ganar Yulaz, Emperor of the Krogan in the Terminus, True Warlord of the Blood Pack**

 **Species:** Krogan

 **Sex:** Male

 **Age:** 865

Self proclaimed as the only 'True' Warlord in the Terminus systems, Ganar Yulaz is the de-facto head of the Blood Pack by virtue of the fact that he controls the largest warbands. Like most Krogan in this age, he lives for himself and his legacy, and yet only has the roughest grasps of the long-term consequences of his actions. To date he has managed to avoid several pitfalls that would have killed a lesser being solely thanks to his own prodigious biotics and personal skill at arms.

Where once he was fairly content to simply expand his slave pens and enjoy conflict amongst his own kind, the war against the Blue Suns seems to have lit a fire within him. Something that his contemporaries are rather worried over. Infighting amongst the Blood Pack has hit an all time low as he has brought 'lesser' Krogan leaders to heel, going so far as to execute those who performed poorly in the conflicts to seize the newly available territory.

Seeing Aria falter during the Blue Suns War saw him begin to start his preparations to once again see a Krogan ruling Omega, uniting the entire Terminus in the name of a new Empire to replace the one brought down by the genophage.

 **Region:** Terminus & Traverse

 **Capital:** None

 **Troops:** Most Krogan are assigned dozens to hundreds of Vorcha as their own personal troops, organizing and equipping them however the individual Krogan sees fit. Each of those Krogan then owes their allegiance to a more powerful Krogan, and so on and so forth. Individually Blood Pack Krogan are amongst the most elite warriors in the galaxy, fortunately for everyone else they are usually equally as arrogant and proud and coordinate poorly.

 **Ships:** Yulaz personally despises space combat, preferring to kill his enemies up close and personally. He does have a moderate fleet of ships patterned on Krogan designs that were built for him by the prior owners of the Stormwall Yards, along with a few newer ships built by die Waffe. They are largely crewed by enslaved Asari forced to wear biotic nullifiers and Terminus Quarians to staff the engines and run maintenance, and their effectiveness would likely be limited to escorting his troop ships.

* * *

 **Gormack, the Aged Specialist**

 **Species:** Salarian

 **Sex:** Male

 **Age:** 39

A thirty nine year old Salarian and former freelance mercenary, Gormack was able to amass his own personal empire largely by happenstance. Starting out with just himself and a few like minded Salarians, their efficiency and successes quickly snowballed as he began to bring in more freelancers to expand his operations. As the money rolled in, other small groups had their loyalty purchased outright, and eventually entire gangs were swearing allegiance to him.

Rather than emulate Aria or the Eclipse, like so many others, Gormack maintained his group as a fairly decentralized affair. While this worked extremely well for him in terms of maintaining his income, it became a problem during the Blue Suns war. The vast majority of his forces had little experience working in large group operations, leading to atrociously high casualty rates.

Once of one of the premier leaders in the Terminus, the aging Salarian has now found his back to a wall, desperately fending off his former allies as they eye his weakened forces and vulnerable territory. His own injuries suffered in the war has made a bad situation worse, and he has quietly contemplated retiring to Illium to live out the rest of his life with what fortune he has left.

 **Region:** Terminus & Traverse

 **Capital:** None

 **Troops:** Gormack's 'army' consists largely of squad sized units, allowed to utilize facilities he owns to rest and repair their equipment in exchange for modest cuts of their pay. The Blue Suns War saw many such groups either die off or disband, greatly weakening his overall strength.

 **Ships:** Like his ground forces, Gormack's fleet largely consists of nominally independent warships that pledged their loyalty to him in exchange for access to his facilities. His personal war-fleet is centered around a single Krogan-patterned dreadnought that he seized in his younger days during a daring commando raid, though the battered ship is currently docked in the Stormwall yards for repairs.

* * *

 **Battlemaster Zaen, Master of Asari**

 **Species:** Krogan

 **Sex:** Male

 **Age:** 476

The second most powerful member of the Blood Pack after Ganar Yulaz, Zaen's warband is smaller than his fellow Krogan's but is unarguably more efficient. Part of this is his location. Zaen's territory spans several star clusters near the Perseus Veil, including a few worlds that were once Quarian colonies. Lacking the strength to control the planets outright, and always under threat form the Geth, Zaen has been forced to make deals with other Warlords and smaller gangs to maintain his place.

Personally he is highly intelligent, and more willing than most Krogan to delegate to persons with more knowledge than himself. Having been born long after the Rebellions, he doesn't see the point in reclaiming an Empire or blaming the Salarians and Turians, preferring instead to build his own legacy regardless of what species he happens to be.

Another source of his strength is his particular sexual preferences when it comes to Asari, making his the only known major Blood Pack group that includes members of the species voluntarily rather than by slavery. Many are relegated to 'lesser' roles in terms of administration and organization, but despite their low numbers their presence is more than sufficient to markedly decrease the levels of graft and corruption usually seen in Pack groups and heavily increase the coordination between the various warbands.

His relatively remote location on the far side of the Terminus from the Traverse largely has kept the bulk of Zaen's forces uninvolved in the Blue Suns war. This lack of action is worrying to many of the other warlords, who are unsure of which way Zaen will go if Yulaz attempts to make any moves.

 ** **Region:**** Terminus & Perseus Veil

 ** **Capital:**** Teagan City, Redcliffe

 ** **Troops:**** Similar to the typical Blood Pack organization, Zaen's forces add the additional wrinkle of Asari usually trained as assassins to supplement their standard straightforward tactics. Their stealthy appearance and sudden strikes usually take their opponents entirely off guard, providing a threat far beyond their limited numbers **.**

 ** **Ships:**** Unlike Ganar Yulaz, Zaen possesses an actual warfleet, largely at the insistence of his bondmate who acts as his Admiral. Most of his many daughters have been raised from birth to captain starships and are certifiably skilled at doing so.

* * *

 ** **Pirate King Ashak ul Tirravan****

 ** **Species:**** Batarian

 ** **Sex:**** Male

 ** **Age:**** 47

The most powerful warlord remaining in the Traverse, Ashak ul Tirravan was exiled as a young teenager for killing a midcaste merchant during a heist gone wrong. He quickly found himself a home in one of the many Batarian pirate crews that lurked in the Traverse, working his way up the ship's leadership ladder thanks to his quick ability to analyze whether or not a potential target was actually worth attacking based on small clues and limited information.

Eventually jumping ship when it was clear that he wasn't going to take over the vessel he was aboard, he had little difficulty in seizing an unwary merchant on Omega and reconfiguring it as a Q-ship and recruiting a crew of fellow Batarian exiles. His first move was an audacious cruise into the Skyllian Verge not more than a year after the verge, seizing several human ships by acting as though his vessel also needed a drive discharge and landing nearby to give them the illusion of safety in numbers.

Escaping under the nose of the corsairs, his last seizure was an five hundred meter eezo hauler the made him wealthy enough to modify his ship into a proper raider and also bring several other captains under his command with the hope of more profits to come. Successful attacks on the Salarian Union's outer colonies were followed by an attack on the Hegemony that had exiled him, each success bringing more independents to join him for their own share of the loot.

Careful never to rely on the same trick twice, Tirravan prides himself on being unpredictable and being one of the few pirate leaders to have fought off Corsair counter-attacks. Despite not being formally allied with either, his fleet often puts in at Xentha to unload their cargo, and most of his actual warships were built by die Waffe.

 ** **Region:**** The Traverse

 ** **Capital:**** None

 ** **Troops:**** Whatever freelancers are hired for specific missions along with the crews of his various ships. Quality and equipment varies wildly as one might expect.

 ** **Fleet:**** Varies as he prefers to bulk up or cut down on his armada depending on what targets he currently has in sight. His personal fleet of actual warships is fairly small but their crews are veterans from several brushes with governmental forces attempting to stop their raiding and pillaging **.**

* * *

 ** **Cessa, the Dancing Blade****

 ** **Species:**** Asari

 ** **Sex:**** N/A

 ** **Age:**** 547

Formerly the Captain of an Asari light cruiser, she and her crew went rogue after the Spectre they were assigned to set them up to take the fall for a failed operation in Salarian space that left nearly a thousand dead. Not wanting anything to do with the Citadel, but not feeling as if they would fit in in the Terminus either, they instead made for the Dark Rim, which was then largely uncharted.

Initially setting themselves up as explorers, they spent most of a century being paid to open Relays and explore the resultant systems for wealthy highborn on Khar'shan hoping to find garden worlds or eezo rich systems. But as the Hegemony grew poorer and less able to pay for under-the-table exploration, and with few others willing to pay their fees, they increasingly turned to raiding nearby pirate groups for the supplies they needed.

By luck or good judgment, Cessa will not admit which it was, their initial targets were a pair of Batarians generally loathed by their competition. As they conducted their attacks they increasingly found themselves joined by both pirates and smugglers tired of the local warlord's actions, and more than willing to follow the experienced Asari's lead.

Cessa's ragtag fleet grew in size and strength as they continued to raid the raiders, eventually culminating in a series of battles near the edge of the galaxy that saw her firmly established as the premier war leader in that region of space.

The eighty years since then have seen her primary focus shift slightly, her unusual warband both working to colonize some of the world's she discovered while also fending off the Hegemony and other attackers. While still not quite willing to go after targets in Citadel space, she is more than happy to send her ships out to strike at the Batarian colonies in the region. In a spectacular showing of poor judgment, members of the Corsairs once attacked one of her fleets on their way back from hitting a Hegemony world. Attempts at reparations have been met with gunfire and raids on human colonies in the Traverse.

 ** **Region:**** The Dark Rim & Traverse

 ** **Capital:**** Greenwater

 ** **Troops:**** Her small colonies raise militia as a matter of course to help defend against counter-raids, but as with most other small warlords she heavily relies on her ship's crews as combatants.

 ** **Fleet:**** Possessing very few actual warships (only her now outdated cruiser and what few Hegemony ships they've captured), most of her fleet is converted merchantmen and other irregular vessels. While not the best equipped, their crews are very skilled at the kind of hit and run warfare that dominants this remote region.

* * *

 ** **The Warrior****

 ** **Species:**** Batarian

 ** **Sex**** **:** Male

 ** **Age:**** 33

A truly massive Batarian, The Warrior's actual name is known only to himself, even his longest companions have only ever known him by the nickname that he chose for himself after his exile. How he made the money required to purchase the loyalty of several raiding groups is equally as unknown.

What is known is that he seems to personally loathe humanity on a level that is extreme even for a Batarian, and particularly relishes slave raids against both Alliance and independent colonies in the Traverse. He is responsible for nearly ten percent of the slaves from that species that end up on Omega and Xentha, and his capture or death is one of the top priorities of the Corsairs.

His forces typically operate out of the Dark Rim, often from Hegemony colony worlds that give his group succor in exchange for whatever incidental goods his people acquire during their raids. He and Cessa have an on again off again rivalry that can occupy their entire forces for months at a time as they fight over what portions of the small region each controls.

 ** **Region:**** The Dark Rim & Traverse

 ** **Capital:**** None

 ** **Troops:**** A mixture of professional pirates and troops that obviously received Hegemony combat training at some point, though they are not of the highest quality. While more than capable of suppressing colonial militia and civilians, their track record against professional forces (both Alliance and Mercenary groups) is rather poor.

 ** **Fleet:**** Much like Cessa, The Warrior's forces are largely compromised of typical pirate and slaving vessels, centered around several motherships which move from system to system to avoid being tracked while they resupply and take on the 'cargo' returned from his fleet.


	13. The Hegemony: Intro & Geography

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Section: The Batarian Hegemony**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Intro & Geography**

Laying to the Galactic southeast of the Systems Alliance, the Batarian Hegemony is a pale shadow of the nation it once was considered to be.

Centuries ago the Hegemony was considered to be far more powerful than the Alliance is in the current day. Tightly allied with the Turian Hierarchy, with several members of their species in the Spectre Corps, it seemed to be a mere matter of time before they received their invitation to become the fourth official Council species.

Their decline wasn't the rapid collapse of the Krogan Empire or the Quarian's Federated State. It was a slow, gradual, altogether painful affair that left their entire culture embittered towards the galaxy at large. Wars, both of violence and of economics, sapped the limited resources of their territory. Trade embargoes forced them to rely more and more heavily on black market goods from the Terminus, which they were then further punished for dealing with.

Withdrawing their ambassador after the Alliance's seizure of the Skyllian Verge, things only grew worse as internal politics saw them left without an elected Hegemon for nearly three decades. The failure of state-sponsored pirates and terrorists to break humanity's colonies in the Verge further humiliated Khar'shan.

It wasn't until the Blue Sun War began in the Terminus that things seemed to improve for the Batarian nation. In less than a year the exiled nation saw its territory expand by nearly thirty percent, and its economic prospects explode as simplified trade routes with Omega and better access to the Dark Rim. But with the good comes the bad, as such rapid expansion has heavily unsettled a culture that had only just settled after the upheaval thirty years prior.

Only time will tell which factions emerge from the political infighting that has only just begun, and just how powerful the Hegemony will be.

* * *

 **Khar'Shan**

The Batarian home-world is not terribly dissimilar to Earth. It lays only slightly farther from a star that burns hotter than Sol, leaving it in roughly the same band of habitability. The gravitational pull is nearly equivalent, and a single moon produces regular tides upon its small oceans. The largest difference is those smaller bodies of water, resulting in a world slighter more arid than our own.

Most of Khar'shan's largest cities lay near river deltas, but are carefully managed so at not to intrude on valuable farming space. The nation-states that once dominated the planet are now little more than administrative areas for civil services and mean little to nothing in the planet's day to day operations.

The planetary, and Hegemony, capital of Khar'shith was created to replace the old capital shortly after they received their embassy on the Citadel. As a sign of wealth and power as the Hegemony entered its golden age, the city was built in the desert beside the granite plateau that holds the Five Pillars of Strength. Its creation necessitated one of the largest building projects in planetary history, with massive aqueducts that stretch hundreds of miles required to provide the population with water, and equally long maglev rail lines to haul food form the coastal cities.

As a symbol of culture and excess it was wonderfully successful, but in more modern times the population is dwindling. The costs to maintain the infrastructure required simply to keep the inhabitants fed and hydrated have only risen as the decades and centuries pass, and the Hegemony can no longer easily afford the expenses to do so.

The city remains a symbol, though now one of the despair and decline of the nation it was built to rule. Nearly a third of its buildings, including many opulent highborn mansions, now lay abandoned. Even the recent expansion of the Hegemony will likely not save the city from being reclaimed by the desert, as only the Patriarch's council still meets in their chambers there. The remaining governmental agencies have returned to more conveniently located cities nearer to the equator.

Currently the world has a population of roughly eight billion, of which perhaps one in eight are enslaved.

* * *

 **The Hegemony Serpent**

If the Galaxy where to be viewed from directly above, as if it were a two dimensional structure, the Batarian Hegemony might resemble a serpent slowly uncoiling itself. Its core worlds surround Khar'shan and are located to the galactic 'southeast' of Sol and Arcturus, but from there its territory curves, following the edge of the galaxy before broadening out in the Dark Rim and far reaches of the Traverse.

In overall numbers the Hegemony is a fairly large nation, controlling nearly double the worlds of the Systems Alliance, though numbers alone do not tell the whole story as we will explore below.

* * *

 **Inner Colonies**

The Hegemony's inner colonies are spread out across three stellar clusters, one of which includes Khar'shan. In terms of overall population just this region alone has more living Batarians than there are humans in the galaxy. At first glance this would lead one to believe that the Hegemony is still a first rate power, however closer examination reveals the cracks in its power base.

Many of the worlds and system near Khar'shan are strangely low in resources, particularly the critical element zero. While many insist this is nothing more than poor luck on the part of the Batarians, Hegemony archeologists insist that there is evidence of extensive mining far in the region's past, far older even than possible Prothean activity.

Regardless of the reasoning, the end result is that many of the Hegemony's prominent worlds have lower qualities of life than one might expect given the nation's size, particularly for the lower caste. Another consequence is a far greater willingness to colonize 'marginal' worlds in a quest for rare materials, particularly eezo.

This region of space holds three primary relays. The most recently, and reluctantly, opened leads directly to Alliance territory and is constantly guarded by both fleet assets and battle-stations. The second was activated shortly after the Hegemony was discovered by the Citadel, and was opened after Batarian and Turian explorers confirmed that it lead to an unremarkable system near the Hierarchy's borders, and only a few days FTL travel from another that lead to the Citadel's main hub.

The final relay leads to the galactic rim, and was the first discovered and activated by Batarian explorers in the early days of the Hegemony's expansion era.

* * *

 **Edge Colonies**

The so called 'edge colonies' are scattered along the edge of the galaxy, clustered around mass relays. Most were settled solely to provide stopping over points where ships could discharge their drives safe from criminal interference, and are barely habitable even by the Batarian definitions of the term.

There has been increased government interest post-war, with several expansion programs being put into effect in order to allow far greater numbers of ships to rest and refit as they make the trip from the Hegemony's heart to the Dark Rim.

* * *

 **The Dark Rim**

Before the discovery of the Skyllian Verge by Salarian teams, the Dark Rim was considered to be the main area of Batarian expansion. It was, and has, remained a long, difficult process, as the gangs and pirate bands that claimed the region in the wake of the Krogan Rebellions were loathe to surrender their valuable worlds, often leading to intensive fighting to secure them for Batarian growth.

Expansion slowed noticeably as the Hegemony's golden age waned, and money once used to entice highborn to shift their interests was now being desperately spent to improve the core worlds situations. In more modern times the region has come back into focus as a critical staging area, first for operations against Vosque and the Blue Suns, and then as bases from which they could secure their hard worn territory.

* * *

 **The Traverse**

The aftermath of the Blue Suns war has finally given the Hegemony inroads into the Attican Traverse, though they likely would not have requested that said territory be located so far from Khar'shan. Currently their control over much of the space is limited to the patrol patterns from their fleet, with the pirates and independent colonies retaining their territory and worlds.

While some are entrenching and preparing to fight, most are already beginning to emigrate to be closer to large colonies like Horizon for protection both from the Hegemony, as well as the Alliance and its own moves from the other direction.

Currently the only real gain the Hegemony has realized from its movements into the Traverse is the fact that they've secured superior trade routes to Omega. In the long term Citadel experts predict that the Hegemony's economic core could actually shift to the new territory, particularly if they secure the entirety of the Black Rim from the pirates and warlords who inhabit much of that region.


	14. The Hegemony: Culture

I don't own the Mass Effect

* * *

 **Batarian Hegemony Chapter 2: Culture**

* * *

 **The Caste and Ranking System**

Before any real examination of Batarian culture can be examined, the rigid dual system of castes and rankings must be explained and examined.

When a Batarian is born, they are entered into the societal rankings as their parents. Thus, a Batarian born to a lowborn family will remain a lowborn for their entire life unless some extreme circumstances occur. As a result, there are really are no riches-to-rags stories in the Hegemony, as even the most capable lowborn merchant will, at best, rise to manage a small business or perhaps help organize trans-planetary shipping. This does mean that families are always of the same ranking, even if they may not be of the same caste.

Castes are determined differently, once a Batarian has graduated their basic schooling (usually around fourteen or fifteen years of age). The teenagers are subjected to a battery of tests over the course of a year, with the goal of determining which caste they would best be suited for. After that they may either apply to join the Hegemony's military, or accept their caste and begin receiving additional training for their new place in life.

While there are methods of advancement or to shift one's caste, in practice they rarely occur. A member must petition his family head for permission, and then pass examinations from both their current caste's, and their desired caste's, councils. As said councils usually have better things to be doing, one must either pay significant fees or be well known as a potential member in order to have a chance.

The only place where this is bucked is in the military. Batarian history is rife with nations whose armies or navies were defeated because they were led by Highborn that were utterly incompetent at actually waging war, lessons that they have taken to heart even after their unification. Even Highborn who join or are born into the warrior caste may only join as the lowest officer rankings, and work their way up from there. Midcaste generals and admirals are not unheard of, and lowborn with exceptional talent have risen to lead brigades or captain warships. This has made the warrior caste and military in general exceptionally beloved by the population in general, and accelerated the fall of the merchants from their once dominant position in society.

 _The Rankings_

 **The Highborn:** The peak of Hegemony society, the Highborn are the Batarian one percent. Each caste has its own roles for them, and they are always in positions of power.

 **The Midcaste:** Essentially the middle-class of society, the midcaste bridge the gaps between the Highborn rulers and the lowcaste workers.

 **The Lowborn:** The bulk of the Batarian population are the lowborn, who most resemble the general population of other species.

 _The Castes_

 **The Warrior Caste:** Every member of this caste is in the Hegemony's military or their homeworld's militia. The only caste that can be voluntarily joined by any member of society, their inclusion policies are incredibly restrictive to limit the applicants who succeed in joining. Currently the politically strongest caste.

 **The Merchant Caste:** Historically the most dominant caste, though their power has waned since the Hegemony's isolation. They still control the vast majority of the wealth, with lowborn merchants living better than midcaste of most other castes.

 **The Science Caste:** Responsible for both the education of the Hegemony's population, as well as research and development. Though unmistakably vital to the nation's life, they are not always held in the best regard by the Warriors and Merchants.

 **The Artisan Caste:** The jack-of-all-trades caste, Artisans are given the widest ability to pursue their passions but also are the caste who sees the most exiles as its members overstep their societal positions. Musicians, artists, and authors are predominate, though there are a sizable number of priests within the Caste as well.

 **The Laborer Caste:** While mechanical and slave labor has removed much of the need for the traditional jobs of the laborer-caste, it remains the largest group by population. In modern times it consists mostly of what humans would consider minimum-wage type employees, with the higher rankings serving as technicians and the like.

 **The Slave 'Caste':** Not technically a caste, slavery is practiced in every level of the Hegemony. Rather than prisons, Batarian criminals whose crimes aren't worth exile are sentenced to 'terms' of slavery. They at least may one day rejoin society, the aliens enslaved in the Hegemony are less lucky. This is much of what causes the tensions on the topic. Hegemony citizens react to groups demanding the release of all slaves in much the same way a human would react if someone proposed throwing open every prison. If pressed, erudite Batarians will occasionally admit that the same 'terms' should apply to alien slaves as well, but the few serious talks on the subject were all dropped when it was pointed out that it wouldn't effect external prejudice in the slightest.

 _Unique Positions:_

There are a few notable positions that exist outside of the typical rank and caste structure. As inscribed upon the Pillars, they were created as a means to allow advancement to those who were worthy. It was strictly upon an individual basis, as the ancient Batarians had no method for raising or lowering entire families as the modern Hegemony does (although it is rarely used).

 _Harath'krem –_ 'The Noble Warriors'. Originally given to lowborn or midcaste warriors who either risked their lives to save a highborn, or proved themselves uniquely insightful. Traditionally their role was that of a bodyguard or adviser, and occasionally as the polite means of keeping a lover. In more modern times it is used as the only manner to induct an alien into the caste system, or to promote a female to a place of power. A Harath'krem is considered somewhere in between a midcaste and a highborn, though most are politely considered to be amongst the latter.

 _Reyja'kem –_ 'The Exiled Warrior'. A Harath'krem whose lord was killed, or who was removed from their house for failing them in some way, becomes a Reyja'krem. Much like a landless knight or ronin samurai, they are still considered high members of society but still lack any real measures of support or protection. Most become mercenaries, hiring themselves out as advisers or soldiers.

 _Kachan –_ 'Wanderer'. A Batarian who has given up their place in society to become a wandering priest. They leave extremely austere lives and devote themselves entirely to the teachings of the Pillars. Even Highborn typically treat them with respect and deference, and eagerly listen to whatever advice the Kachan might give before departing. Unique in that women are allowed to devote themselves in such a way.

 _Szhoc'tinnan –_ 'Desert King'. A title once given to the merchants who braved Khar'shan's deserts to lead caravans from one nation to another. They were openly regarded as heroes for making the harrowing treks, and during Khar'shan's nation-state's era it was considered a requirement that a Merchant highborn become a _Szhoc'tinnan_ before he could rule a kingdom. It was briefly revived during the Hegemony's early years as an awarded position to the leaders of the great trade fleets sent out into the galaxy, but fell out of use as the political situation changed.

 _ _Hieth'sham__ _ _–__ 'Worthy Soul'. The Pillars speak of the Hieth'sham as a talent elevated above their station. Only midcaste, lowborn, and women of any caste may be declared Hieth'sham by a highborn above their social standing, in conjunction with a Highborn priest who has dedicate his life to the Pillars. The individual must then be approved by the three ranking priests who sit on the Artisan Council, who usually subject the individual to weeks to months of brutal testing before accepting the declaration. When Hieth'sham is declared, it is imperative that the talent is allowed to develop. Those who stand in the way of this are subject to punishment. For example, a military officer actively hindering the development of - or worse, the enlistment of - a Hieth'sham warrior, may at best lose his rank, and at worst his life.

 _Ha'diq –_ 'War Leader'. Originally a military title for a temporary leader of a conglomerated formation, in more modern times there are essentially planetary governers although their power is essentially total over their system. A Ha'diq is appointed by the Hegemon pending approval of three of the five highborn councils, and serves for life. They govern a planet or star system in accordance to their own designs and control the local warrior caste's defense force (but not the Hegemony military assets proper). While most at least listen to the powerful houses on their worlds to ensure a smooth working relationship, others are more dictatorial. Regardless, a motion to dismiss them can only come from the Hegemon.

 _Houses_

Every Highborn family constitutes a 'House', lead by the eldest male from the main line who takes the title of Patriarch. He is essentially the lord of his home and family, with very broad discretion when it comes to his affairs.

A House is an extremely unusual organization when looked at from the outside. Part family, part corporation, party army, part political movement, particularly large Houses are nearly mini-nations unto themselves. Many have had centuries to accumulate wealth and followers, and are thus heavily entrenched in Batarian society.

Typically the 'core' of a House are those individuals related within two degrees to the Patriarch, though some are more expansive than others, going out to three or even four degrees of separation. This is more common in poorer houses or those who have been devastated by some calamity.

Females can become Matriarchs, but the term better translates as 'temporary female leader'. Such a woman is only in power until she marries and produces a male heir, at which time her husband would become regent until his son's coming of age. It is not uncommon for females who find themselves in such a position to never marry or produce children specifically so that they can hold onto power for as long as they can.

 _Cadres_

Highborn too removed to be a member of a house, or if they are a Harath'krem or Reyja'krem, are allowed a limited number of followers called a cadre. Always of a lower caste, or exiles, such followers are expected to swear oaths of loyalty to their leader. Essentially they become the Patriarch (or Matriarch) of their own very small House.

Typically Harath'krem won't have more than a handful of followers, and will request their Tarath'shan's permission before taking any. Reyja'krem will vary wildly between having very large numbers of exiles serving as their own private army, to one or two companions who are extremely loyal to them.

Members of a Cadre are considered, essentially, as living weapons by Batarian law, making them little more than extensions of their Tarath'shan's will.

* * *

 **Cultural Notes**

 _The Patriarchy_

The Hegemony is a strictly Patriarchal society, with females not allowed to join the frontline military or to sit on the various councils. Notably this is often the most broken taboo by exiles, who often find that their small enclaves do not have the luxury of turning women away from helping to defend their homes.

Sexism is, however, still largely rampant in the Hegemony proper. This lead to more cultural clashes than any other issue, including slavery, as the various Hegemon had great difficulty in taking the Asari (who appear female) and Salarians (who are matriarchal) seriously. Relations would also noticeably worsen during years when the Turian Councilor was female.

Warrior caste women have more power than their sisters, a legacy of ancient days when the female mates of warriors were tasked with defending their homes and keeps while the army was away. While not allowed to serve in the military proper, females do dominate the support infrastructure (cooks, tailors, armorers, etc). Amongst the other castes, the concept that the females should remain at home and take care of the family so that the men do not have to be bothered to do so is a fairly predominate way of thinking.

Despite this, Batarian women are just as proud and powerful as their male counterparts. Actions that might flatter human women or Asari, such as trying to protect them, would only cause them anger. The only things that Batarian females consider themselves inferior to is Batarian men, and often then only those of a higher caste.

 _Power_

Batarian culture places immense emphasis on power, ownership, and position.

A contented Batarian is one who has the power to affect the galaxy around them in such a way to achieve their goals, has the ownership of what they desire, and has reached a position of authority in whatever group they are in. What defines 'power' differs heavily between the various castes and rankings. Warriors obsesses heavily about promotion, Laborers strive to control every aspect of their task and subordinate others to themselves, Merchants seek to amass tremendous wealth, and so on.

Batarians, particularly highborn, can become absolutely vicious in the defense of their power, to the point of seeming to be suicidal to other species. It shows itself in different ways, and can often be misconstrued by other species. For example, during the Blitz it was often observed that Batarian commanders would fight ruthlessly to leave none of their people behind, and would become enraged at their subordinate's deaths. Many humans thought it was a sign of extreme camaraderie and loyalty, when in reality it was simply the officers refusing to surrender lives that they believed belonged to them.

In a less militant fashion, office politics takes on an entirely new meaning when it comes to Batarians, as they absolutely _will_ sabotage or even attempt to kill rivals if it means advancement.

Those who do lose their power, either through their own mistakes or if it was taken by force, can quite often lapse into extremely deep depressions that can be difficult to shake. Suicide is extremely rare but it can take months or even years to recover if the they were badly 'hurt'.

 _Relationships_

As one might expect from their culture, Batarians place a high degree of attraction on those either above or beneath them. Much of their concepts of physical perfection remain from their ancient days when females would be tasked with defending the family homes while scavenging, while the males performed their hunts.

Dedicated mates are rare at any level of Batarian society. 'Marriage' is more or less a business transaction intended to produce heirs for a family line, with love playing little to no part. Love does happen, but is usually found with Harath'krem or lovers on the side, but even then such relationships are rarely exclusive.

In regards to erogenous zones, a person placing their hand on the small of a Batarians back or on their neck would likely be struck in the same manner as if you had touched a human's breasts or groin. The small patches of skin between the cartilage ridges on their spines are highly sensitive to the touch, and like Turians, biting their partners on the neck to mark them is highly common. As always with Batarians, which side on is marked on matters. For example, biting a social superior on their dominant side would likely mean an immediate, and violent, end to intercourse unless first invited to do so.

 _Males –_ Batarians look for males with strong legs and cores. Scars are an additional turn-on as they provide evidence that he has fought and won. Females typically prefer males above their ranking. The farther up she has gone, the larger her pride at being able to claim him even temporarily.

 _Females –_ Long, elfin ears are a significant point of interest. Strong ab muscles and thick arms show that she is capable of defending herself, while height is considered another attractive attribute. Males are more divergent in terms of which societal direction they go. Some enjoy the submission of 'lesser' females, while others lust for the challenge of seducing a societal superior.

 _Relationships - Alien Species_

While Batarians in general are not prone to dalliances with other races, they do happen from time to time. Below is a rough breakdown by the few species known to have relations with Batarians on a somewhat common basis.

 _Asari –_ Despite similarly casual attitudes towards sex, neither species often finds the other attractive. Asari lack a second set of eyes, and are usually too short for Batarian tastes. Their faces also slide into the uncanny valley thanks to their nearly similar structure, but without the cartilaginous ridges, eyes, or ears they seem somehow deformed. That said, experimental flings are not uncommon in the Terminus and Traverse, but lasting relationships are extremely rare.

 _Turian –_ Their vastly differing body types aside, there are Batarians and Turians who have become entangled with one another. Neither species is averse to rough sex, and both prize strength as an attractive attribute. Turian mandibles also give the Batarians's extra eyes something to focus on, and their subtle movements can be read much like a fellow Batarians' might be. The Turian's fixation on dedicating themselves to their mates is something that the more open Batarians do have issues with, resulting in few long-term pairings.

 _Human –_ At first considered closer to Batarian than the Asari, in an equally bad way given that our lack of a second pair of eyes made us look half made, Batarian interest grew when they realized that human hair continued to grow and was not limited as the Alliance's fashions made them believe. It was enough to shift us from the uncanny valley into something exotically alien. Female humans with waist-length hair and strong bodies are considered highly desirable by Batarian men, while human males with groomed beards and at least shoulder length hair are found equally attractive by Batarian females. This has lead to high prices on the slave markets for human 'product', as well as unusual (and often short-lived) relationships in the Terminus.

* * *

 **Religion: The Pillars of Strength**

The primary religion of the Hegemony, and the Batarian population in general, is living by the tenants inscribed upon ancient pillars on Khar'shan. Whatever society originally carved their teachings has been lost to time, but transcriptions of what they say quickly made their way to every nation upon their world.

There are fifteen pillars in total, though collectively they are usually reduced to five groupings of three. Most Batarians treat the groupings as one and the same, resulting in most outsiders believing there to be only five in total. All fifteen are placed precisely in a pentagram around an open courtyard, where ancient kings were once believed to have held court. The tallest pillars are nearest to the center, with their smaller brethren laid out in lines radiating out from there (Forming three concentric pentagrams).

Each of the five groups describes a concept, with each pillar in that group also covering a caste and its rankings as the ancient culture defined them. Set into the stone floor between the pillars are additional heavy tiles that cover the practices of slavery and exile, and for which crimes either may be allowed as punishment.

Belief in life after death is vague, but the Pillars do speak of uplifting those worthy souls after they have passed on, though what those spirits do for eternity is open to interpretation. Anecdotal stories of damned spirits being crushed beneath the Pillar's weight have made their way into Batarian culture, though the priests who heavily study and debate the meaning of the Pillar's ancient words have never committed to such things.

 **Pillar of Power**

" _Fearing an enemy's strength gives him that strength, and with it, victory."_

Cornerstone of the warrior caste. These Pillars go into great detail about the proper ways of demonstrating strength and power, both as individuals and as a collective nation. Its sayings remain amongst the most popular amongst both Hegemony citizens and exiles.

As can easily be gleaned from general Batarian battle tactics, they feature heavily on both the actual power and the _presentation_ of power. A Batarian who isn't powerful but is able to convince others that he is is as well regarded as one who actually has that strength. Terror tactics are popular because of their effect as a force-multiplier, not because every member of the Warrior Caste is an unfeeling butcher (though there are those who quite enjoy it).

 **Pillar of Knowledge**

" _Knowledge grants us strength, for it banishes fear through understanding"_

Cornerstone of the science caste. They describe the proper ways to both pursue and then disseminate knowledge for the good of society, as well as the accepted manners in which to determine a Batarian's caste. Batarians are firm believers in knowledge and power being synonymous, and many go out of their way to accumulate information even if it doesn't seem relevant at the time.

 **Pillar of Heart**

" _There is power in affection, for it builds bonds not easily shattered."_

Cornerstone of the artisan caste. Its inscriptions cover how family members should treat one another, regardless of their castes. There are also passages on the proper methods of courting dependent upon the rankings involved. Notable in being the only Pillar to speak of love and long-term mating, and encourages Batarians to form attachments where they happen regardless of caste (provided it is done in a proper fashion of course).

 **Pillar of Kin**

" _A lone man is easily defeated, stand with your kin, and they will stand with you."_

Cornerstone of the merchant caste. Giving the merchants their power for millenia, these Pillars describe how, through trade, all Batarians might one day share one culture and become one people. The least spoken of Pillar in modern times, as much of its sayings relate directly to the responsibilities of the midcaste and highborn to the castes beneath them.

 **Pillar of Unity**

" _A realm divided will find the desert waiting to reclaim what once belonged to it."_

Cornerstone of the laborer caste. They teach that even the humble farmer and miner are critical to the survival of society, and that there is power in a unity of purpose. It also covers the method by which lowborn and midcaste might remove highborn who have abused their positions for the good of society.

* * *

 _Credit to BJ Hanssen for the Hieth'sham title, and Tusken1602 for the Ha'diq title and saying for the Pillar of Power._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

Thanks, Kat


	15. The Hegemony: Language & Physiology

I don't own the Mass Effect

* * *

 **Batarian Hegemony Chapter 3: Language & Basic Physiology**

* * *

 **Language – The High and the Low**

The various Batarian languages consolidated during the early years of their exploration into space, shortly after the planet was unified into what would eventually become the Hegemony. Two distinct dialects remained, though both used the same written language, and for the most part shared a common base. Once someone has learned one, learning the other is often trivial, with remembering which to use in what situation the larger difficulty.

'High Batarian' is used by the highborn at all times, and by the midcaste when speaking to lowborn or aliens. Lowborn only shift into this tongue when dealing with members of other species. This has lead to more than a few cultural problems, as many self-help guides available on the extranet to those who wish to learn the language offer High Batarian believing that it is the acceptable language for aliens to speak. Even lowborn or exiled Batarians will find being 'spoken down to' highly insulting unless the speaker is obviously superior.

'Low Batarian' is the more common language, used by lowborns and midcastes amongst one another, and by the midcaste when speaking with their superiors. It has also become the _lingua franca_ of the Terminus and Traverse thanks to the long Batarian migrations (voluntary or otherwise) into those regions of space, and the fact that it is relatively easy to learn in comparison to Asari-Standard or the other various Thessian dialects.

In the Hegemony, all Batarians learn both languages in their youth. Highborn will also usually learn at least one alien language, usually Illium-Thessian as it makes dealing with Aria's eezo traders simpler. Exiled Batarians usually stick with only Low Batarian, with the higher language vanishing within one or two generations.

Despite their appearance as brutal thugs, Batarians are often surprisingly passive-aggressive in their speech. This is especially true when it comes to correcting social superiors. Lowborn would never dare correct a midcaste or highborn directly, instead coaching their criticism with indirect allusion and polite language. Midcaste speak with highborn in much the same way, and understanding what is actually being said in what situations is nearly an art form. Many sociologists believe that their more direct approach with aliens is little more than Batarians enjoying a different manner of being able to speak.

* * *

 **A Culture of Posture**

Batarians, unlike most other species, put an extreme premium on posture and expression. While the general adage that tilting ones head left shows respect or submission, while the right demonstrates superiority, that could charitably said to be only the tip of the iceberg. Where arms are held and positioned, how fingers are held, the degree at which one's head is tilted, even leaning onto one leg or another can convey subtle messages during a conversation.

That is not to say that Batarians are excellent at nonverbal communication, they can actually be surprisingly poor at it compared to Humans or especially Quarians. Where those species use body language to enhance what they are saying or to tell a story on it sown, Batarian body language is all about framing what they are saying in the proper context.

It also is the result of Batarian frustration when dealing with other species. Humanity for example rarely stays perfectly still during a conversation, our bodies moving as we talk and think without any real thought from our active brains. From a Batarian's point of view we seem to be insanely flipping from one message to another without any regard to matching what our bodies are doing to what we're saying. One moment we may be speaking respectfully, the next apparently talking down as if they were a mere slave.

During the Hegemony's more open days, this was countered with specialized 'diplomacy' classes where aliens were brought in to teach midcaste and highborn how to read alien body language. In the modern days the absence of any such thing makes initial life difficult for exiles, as they have difficulty understanding the people around them.

The reverse, however, can also be true. Excepting those humans or aliens who have learned to read Batarian posture, they can be annoyingly difficult to read. To human eyes most Batarians hold themselves extremely stiffly, moving their necks as little as possible and positioning their arms slowly.

The species's two sets of eyes only adds another layer that must be read, and is believed to be the cause of what allows the second level of communication. While a Batarian's upper set of eyes remains focused on the person speaker, the lower set can take in the numerous social message built into their posture. Two eyed aliens can learn to read and participate, but typically require full immersion in a Batarian enclave for months or years in order to do so. Even then there will remain some angles that remain foreign to them, most often those reserved for the Highborn or high ranking Hegemony officials. And while they can learn to 'read' Batarians, their lack of a second set of eyes means that there will always be some expressions that they simply cannot replicate.

As with many Batarian things, postures often mean more than one thing and depend upon the situation or a combination of other gestures to be deciphered. While the right and left adage may be simple, it is adequate in terms of describing that the Batarians tend to associate the right sides of their body with dominance and power, and the left with weakness and submission. What follows will be basic descriptions of positions and what they mean, with combinations below that. These basics can become far more nuanced when combined with gestures, poses, or even full body leans in various directions.

 _Head Tilting_

 _Direct Left and Right_

 _Left, shallow –_ Polite deference

 _Left, moderate –_ Contrite deference or submission

 _Left, deep –_ High embarrassment or shame

 _Right, shallow –_ Polite superiority

 _Right, moderate -_ Demanding respect

 _Right, deep –_ High degree of anger/fury

 _Tilting forwards_

 _Forward left, shallow –_ Polite interest to equal or superior

 _Forward left, moderate –_ Contrite apology

 _Forward left, deep –_ Mortified embarrassment

 _S_ _traight forward, shallow –_ Holding an equal's attention

 _Straight forward, moderate –_ Silently agreeing to a point.

 _Forward right, shallow –_ Polite interest to inferior / polite disdain to equal

 _Forward right, moderate –_ Marked disdain towards speaker

 _Forward right, deep –_ Preparing for violence

 _Tilting Back_

 _Left, shallow –_ requesting forgiveness

 _Right, shallow –_ silent confidence

 _Straight back, shallow –_ considering the matter

 _Combinations with other movements / positioning_

 _Head even, shifted lift moderately, shoulders rolled back –_ surprise / confusion

 _Head even, shifted right moderately, all four eyes narrowed –_ suspicion

 _Tone shifts – typically used by highborn Batarians with excellent vocal control who indicate their tones through posture rather than through their actual vocal tones._

 _Head upwards, shifted right slightly, upper eyes narrowed –_ shift tone to sarcasm

 _Head upwards, shifted left slightly, one arm behind their lower back, dominant leg forwards or back depending on caste –_ shift tone to flirtation

 _Head downwards, shifted right to degree intended, arms crossed high on the chest –_ shift tone to disbelief (increasing how little they believe the speaker based on how far their head is turned).

 _Head downwards, shifted right, arms crossed low across the stomach_ – shift tone to dismissive

 _Gestures_

 _ _Claiming__ \- An old gesture, usually seen only among traditionalists. Dipping head to the right and down, left hand out to to touch the other person before pulling the hand back against your chest in a fist. Used to display that the other person belongs to you, though not in a sexual fashion. Closer to 'you are mine, and i will protect what is mine.'

 _ _Flirtation__ \- For females, shift weight to either her dominant or submissive sides depending on the other's social standing. Tilt her head in the same manner while leaning back to tighten her stomach. For males, shift weight forwards on the dominant side or lean back on the weak side (again depending on the other's social standing). Arms cross high on the chest, with the head tilted back or down to indicate if he desires to lead or follow.

 _Praying / Offering respect to the Pillars of Strength_ – Curl both hands into claws, with the fingertips of each finger curled around and pressing against the opposite in the other hand, with the Batarian seemingly straining to pull their hands apart. Represents the strength of the five pillars when combined with Batarian faith.

* * *

 **Basic Physical Traits**

In comparison to humans, Batarians in general are larger, stronger, and far more durable, if much less flexible. Their heavily muscled bodies also demand high calorie intake, and they burn through their fuel reserves rather quickly. Food that would satisfy the average human would be an extreme diet for a Batarian, and they typically eat four meals a day. An example, while the typical Batarian (male or female) might be able to easily beat a human in a fist fight, you would never find one who could run a marathon.

Their skin is thick and relatively tough, and is supplanted by thick cartilaginous formations that serve as a natural armor. These 'plates' are not as tough as Turian carapaces, or Krogan head plates, but make beating a Batarian in hand to hand a difficult proposition.

Batarians are uniquely sexually divergent. Males have evolved to carefully hunt prey over long periods of time, surviving off of the meat of their kills until they return. This led to the propensity of sharp teeth for ripping and tearing at flesh, as well as their open noses to be able to pick up even miniscule scents. Their capability of tracking by scent alone is incredible by most other species standards.

Females were more sedentary, scavenging for food around a central den while consistently being alert for predators. Their ears tend to be longer and larger, giving them exceptional directional hearing. In contrast, their noses are down-turned and 'closed' to mere slits which makes their sense of smell mediocre at best. The mouths are likewise different, excepting their needle sharp canines on either side of their mouth, their teeth are more in line with humanity or Asari's to work with their more omnivorous diet.

Both sexes have extensive plates over their thighs, upper arms, and have several arrowhead shaped ridges that cascade down their spines. Males add thick ridges that cover their entire chest, with additional protection on their forearms. Females have thinner protection over their sternum and collarbones, with more of the material protecting their small breasts.

The most obvious advantage Batarians have, beyond their physical size and strength, is their eyes. They have extremely acute depth perception, and even grunt soldiers are considered crack-shots by any species other than the even more sharp-eyed Turians.

* * *

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

Thanks, Kat


	16. The Hegemony: Government & Military

I don't own the Mass Effect

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 **Batarian Hegemony Chapter 4: Government & Military**

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 **Hegemony – National Government**

According to the founding 'constitution' of the Hegemony, really a series of treaties that unified the remaining nation-states, the Hegemony's Government consists of a series of councils and is ruled by an elected highborn named the Hegemon. While it served its people fairly well during its first several centuries of existence, the excesses of the golden age combined with external pressures eventually lead to the currently dilapidated state of both the government and its nation.

The highest levels of government are located on Khar'shan, and in theory consist of the Hegemon and his cabinet, the Patriarch's Council, and the five Highborn councils.

 _The Hegemon_

The Hegemon is the Hegemony's nominal head of state. They must be of the Highborn ranking, though their specific caste is considered irrelevant. To date, all five castes, even the laborers, have had a Hegemon drawn from their membership, though the big three (Merchants, Warriors, and Scientists) have predominated.

To be elected, a Hegemon must be nominated by Khar'shan's Patriarch's Council, and then approved by three of the five Highborn councils. Currently the position stands vacant, and has been open since the last incumbent failed to secure the Skyllian Verge diplomatically from the Citadel Council.

In theory, they have the unenviable position of both setting long-term policy, and then working to force the various Caste councils to actually work together to accomplish his goals. As the military answers to the ranking members on the Warrior Council, the only military force directly controlled by the Hegemon is the SIU. As such, their primary duties are diplomatic in nature, bribing, blackmailing, or even legitimately convincing the various factions within the Hegemony to act in unison.

Externally, they would be the face of the Hegemony, and were responsible for appointing the ambassadors to the Citadel during the time when an embassy existed, as well as sending agents to meet with the Terminus Warlords. They are also responsible for appointing Ha'diq (planetary governors), and can wield considerable influence through them despite their lack of 'official' control.

 _The Patriarch's Council_

Consisting of the thirteen most powerful House Patriarchs within the Hegemony, they choose their own members to replace those who die of old age or who are cast out in disgrace. They are responsible for managing the day-to-day bureaucracy of the Hegemony's national government, and also act as the highest judiciary body.

Its leader is the High Patriarch, appointed for life by internal vote. He is essentially the internal head of government, managing the byzantine judicial system as well as being responsible for nominating a new Hegemon should the situation arise. Currently there is a massive power struggle between the current High Patriarch and the Warrior's Highborn council, largely over who should be the next Hegemon.

 _The Highborn Councils_

Each caste has its own Highborn Council on Khar'shan. Four of them are fairly simple bodies, typically meeting no more than a few times per year to evaluate Highborn who wish to transfer castes or to vote on a proposed Hegemon. They also have the authority, though it is rarely invoked, to remove a member of their caste on the Patriarch's Council by a majority vote. This can only be done once per five years.

The exception is the Warrior's Council, which the highest military authority within the Hegemony. Split evenly between the senior Admirals and Generals, they operate as a general staff that guides and directs military operations. Unlike the other councils they are always 'in session' as a result.

 _The Ha'diq (Planetary Governors)_

The Ha'diq, appointed by the Hegemon and approved by the Highborn councils, have fiat to rule their planets and star systems and are, theoretically, answerable only to the Hegemon. The reality is somewhat more complex, as the local Patriarchs and the Hegemony's Highborn Councils have their own ways of making a rogue Ha'diq's life miserable.

An increasingly large concern is the number of world's whose Ha'diq has passed away or grown infirm in their old age without an appointed successor, leaving those planet's various Councils stuck attempting to run them by committee. Without a Hegemon to appoint new Ha'diq, the nation's already fragile state has grown worse in recent years as a result, particularly on Class B and C worlds where there are not powerful Councils to take up the slack.

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 **Hegemony – Planetary Governments**

The highest level of is on Khar'shan, but each world in the Hegemony was intended to be fully self sufficient. Both from a material standpoint as well as governmental one, requiring minimal oversight from the home-world in order to remain productive. While tremendously successful during the Golden Age, the limitations of the system became clear during the downfall, as rogue Ha'diq could easily attempt secession or begin self-motivated civil wars.

Each world has its own militia army run by the Ha'diq, or local warrior's council if the world is a Class A colony. Fleet assets however are strictly controlled by the Hegemony's national military, a direct result from the internal wars that plagued the Hegemony during its long decline.

The colonies of the Hegemony are divided into classes depending upon its population and economy, and is governed differently depending upon its level.

Class A – What other species would consider 'inner colonies', these are the oldest and largest of Batarian colonies, typically with populations at least above one billion. They have sufficient populations to have smaller versions of Khar'shan's government, with five Highborn councils (one per caste), along with a ruling Ha'diq.

Class B – Mid sized colonies, usually with fewer than a billion citizens but with a sufficiently powerful economy to mark them as important, this level of world is ruled by a highborn Ha'diq in conjunction with midcaste councils.

Class C – Small worlds, usually on the level of most human colonies, they are ruled by midcaste Ha'diq with little to no overisght.

Class D – Outpost worlds, they are directly run by the Hegemony's military forces.

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 **Foreign Relations:**

 _ **The Systems Alliance** – _ Officially the Hegemony is in a cold-war state with the Alliance, with no formal contact between the two powers. Most war-plans are based on the belief that either Earth or Khar'shan will strike at one another, and diverge from there. While hatred still burns over the loss of the Skyllian Verge, the abject failures of operations such as the Blitz and similar pirate raids had quelled all but the most ardent war-mongers. That the SA has a rocky relationship with the Citadel, much as the Hegmeony once had, has caused some to question if a _detente_ is possible, but such talk remains limited.

 _ **The Hierarchy –**_ Once the Hegemony's closest ally, the failure of Palavan to do anything besides stand aside and watch as the Asari, Salarians, and then Humans ravaged the Hegemony's economy and colony prospects has left most Batarians rather embittered towards the equally militant nation.

 _ **The Asari Republics –**_ At first the most popular destination for the famed merchant fleets of Khar'shan, the era of peaceful trade lasted mere decades before the Batarian Merchant caste realized the Asari's penchant for manipulating economies in the extreme long-term. Cultural clashes thanks to the Asari's feminine appearance only made a bad situation worse, and the Republics are now second only to the Alliance in terms of the Hegemony's perceived enemies.

 _ **The Salarian Union –**_ Quite intelligently, the Hegemons during the Hegemony's Citadel era never fully trusted the Salarians. Eventually they went so far as to found the SIU as a direct response to unusual incidents in Hegemony space that were blamed on the STG. The resulting shadow war of intelligence, raiding, and covert operations began nearly two centuries ago and shows no signs of stopping.

 _ **Omega –**_ The Hegemony has always gotten on fairly well with first the Patriarch, and later Aria, as well as the other warlords in the Terminus and Traverse. The slave trade in particular is extremely lucrative between the Batarian nation and this region of space, and since their isolation from the Citadel they have become entirely reliant upon Omega's eezo mines for their supply.

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 **Political Movements**

The Hegemony has always been a deeply divided society thanks to its castes and rankings, a situation that has only grown worse after its isolation from the galaxy in general. The political groups below aren't exclusive parties like humans would understand, but are more general movements where Batarians might be consider themselves members of several at once.

 _Ordered by relative size_

 **Conservatives –** The Conservatives are largely against any type of societal change, and rabidly believe in the superiority of the Batarian species. A dominant movement in the wake of Humanity's 'stealing' of the Skyllian Verge, it has suffered several political blows as they were unable to guide the Hegemony to independent success as promised.

 **Liberals –** The dominant group within the warrior caste, the liberal movement accepts the caste system but rejects the societal rankings that accompany it. While their message is popular amongst other castes, especially the laborers, the knowledge that such a change would bring massive upheaval to society limits their overall support.

 **Traditionalists** – Like the Conservatives, the Traditionalists believe wholeheartedly in the caste system. Where they differ is that this movement prefers a more literal following of the Pillars of Strength, and its members tend to be deeply religious. In particular they are fond of quoting the responsibilities of the mid and high castes to the low. The actions of many Traditionalist warriors during the Blue Sun war has massively boosted their cause's support, accelerating them from a minor group to the third largest movement within the Hegemony.

 **Equality** – The Batarian's version of the feminist movement, they rail against the Patriarchal society and how their species females are treated. They often point to the successful lives female exiles have beyond its borders, and are quick to quote ancient tales of women warriors defending their cities while the male armies were away.

 **Redeemers –** The Redeemers are those who believe that exile has become a political tool rather than a criminal punishment, and would see most exiles returned to the Hegemony's fold. They point to the wealth of knowledge and experience such people could bring, as well as the potential for additional trade.

 **Expansionists –** Largely championed by the Dark Rim colonists, this movement desires increased funding and efforts to expand into both the Dark Rim and the Traverse. The Blue Suns War was a major political coup that they are seeking to expand upon.

 **Isolationists** – Believing that other cultures and societies would destroy what it means to be Batarian, they pushed for the removal of the embassy from the Citadel and a closing of the Hegemony's borders. Once the dominant partners with the Conservatives, the fact that isolation has only brought economic hardship on the Hegemony has more or less removed this movement from serious political power.

 **Reconciliation Now** – The Fist's opposite, Reconciliation Now believes that humanity is the Hegemony's natural ally against the Citadel and its draconian laws. They push for a thawing of tension between Earth and Khar'shan so that the Traverse can be best divided between the two powers. Not popular on the Batarian homeworld, most of its members are from inner colonies hurt badly by the Citadel's embargos.

 **The Fist of Khar'shan** – A radical conservative group that blames humanity for nearly all of the Hegemony's problems, ignoring the roles played by the Asari and Salarians a century before. Largely responsible for funding the Skyllian Blitz, its failure hurt them badly in the councils. In followup, their failed attempt to ensnare the Blue Suns has more or less broken the movement.

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 **Armed Forces**

The Hegemony's armed forces are still quite powerful, if slightly dated to modern eyes. This is largely thanks to the various embargoes that they have been forced to suffer through their history, denying them many of the advances over the last century that other species have benefited from.

They are also divergent from Human and Turian norms in that they retain a divided command structure, retaining four separate 'branches' of service.

 _Hegemony Fleet –_ Exactly as it says, the Hegemony Fleet controls all interstellar warships and transports.

 _Army of Khar'shan –_ Once the planetary forces of the homeworld, it expanded during the Hegemony's decline to encompass all of the professional ground forces within the Hegemony.

 _Planetary Militia –_ Entirely defensive in nature, militia are often poorly equipped, trained, and lead, and are used to delay and hold back an invader until the professional troops can arrive.

 _The Special Intervention Unit –_ The SIU is the Hegemony's elite black-ops unit, answerable only to the Hegemon

 _The Hegemony Fleet_

On paper they have an impressive number of dreadnoughts with fifteen, a number they were able to construct thanks to not being involved in the treaty of Farixen after their exile from Citadel space. However most of those ships are now exceedingly old, with only three being built over the last decade, and only two in the prior twenty years. Moreover they are completely lacking in carriers, disdaining the human concept largely because of its origins.

Still, their designs are usually well regarded in naval circles. While their barriers are rather weak across most of their ship classes because of the nation's element zero dirth, Batarian armor schemes are considered second-to-none. Though highly labor and materials intensive to construct, their interior honey-combed design has seen some Hegemony vessels continue fighting despite losing more than sixty percent of their overall mass to battle damage.

Externally, Batarian frigates and cruisers have a blunted arrowhead prow stretching forwards from a rectangular core, with a flared engine space attached at the rear. Dreadnoughts are closer to elongated arrowheads, lacking the straight flanks of the smaller vessels. During their Golden Age most Batarian ships were designed with a heavy emphasis on disruptor torpedo and missile barrages, but since their decline design philosophy has shifted to maximum endurance. Most newer vessels have flanks festooned with heavy mass-accelerator turrets and GARDIAN batteries, specifically in an attempt to counter Human fighter-craft and Salarian frigate supremacy.

Most analysts consider the Batarians as a paper tiger, one that would likely lose any conflict against the Alliance. Despite this prevailing opinion, many in the human navy are less than certain about the outcome of any fight, believing that a Pyrrhic victory is an all too likely outcome. Of particular concern is their extensive logistical capability. While the Hegemony has always prided itself on having a firm grasp of the subject, the Blue Suns war revealed several flaws in their operations that they have quickly moved to correct. More so than nearly any other species' military, the Hegemony Fleet is well trained and prepared to escort massive numbers of supply ships and troop transports in coordinated movements.

Currently the Navy is organized into five fleets. The First and Fifth constitute the bulk of the Hegemony's modern vessels, and as such are usually placed on rotating patrols around Khar'shan and the relays leading to the Alliance and Citadel space. The Second, Third, and Fourth are mostly older vessels, particularly the Fourth, but they have proven themselves still combat capable during the fighting against the Blue Suns.

 **First Fleet –** Location; Traverse. Mission; Patrol Alliance border

 **Second Fleet –** Location; Dark Rim. Mission; Rest and Refit

 **Third Fleet –** Location; Inner Colonies. Mission; Rest and Refit

 **Fourth Fleet –** Location; Inner Colonies. Mission; Reserves

 **Fifth Fleet –** Location; Inner Colonies. Mission; Patrol Alliance border

 _Army of Khar'shan_

The Hegemony's professional army rarely leaves its defensive positions on Khar'shan and the Class A worlds, the deployment of several divisions during the Blue Suns conflict gave them a much needed morale boost as well as practical experience.

Recognizing that their high-consumption physiology gives them poor long-term endurance, they aim to fight from defensive positions whenever possible. The resulting tactics are what Batarian instructors call the 'Advancing Defense'. Rather than blitz forward like humans or advance in broad waves like Turians, Batarians almost universally prefer to remain on the defensive, or at least give the impression that they are. Their generals will usually attempt to position their forces in such a way to force the enemy to attack them. When they are required to make direct assaults, they prefer sudden, rapid strikes that are quickly followed by another entrenchment.

Most army terms relate to the nation-states era of Khar'shan, with differing units following the ancient patterns. The bulk of the army is made up of 'River-Delta' style formations. Drawing on the legacy of the great river-side cities, these are predominately infantry units that have a heavy amount of internal support. Anti-air, anti-armor, exoskeleton units, and even moderate mortar and artillery support are built in at the squad and platoon levels to ensure a maximum self-sufficiency.

More recognizable, and hated, to aliens are the 'Desert' formations. Much smaller in scope than the regimented River-Delta units, Desert formations primary duty is the disruption and demoralization of the target. Entirely mechanized or motorized, most wear only light armor to ensure a maximum level of mobility. Not concerned with taking and holding territory, they operate on flanks or lung deep behind enemy lines, leaving a trail of brutalized bodies in their wake before pulling back to let the line units finish the traumatized foe.

 _Planetary Militia_

Usually consisting of Batarians who didn't quite make the cut for the Army of Khar'shan, planetary militia rarely leave their home-world. Where the national army's equipment remains solid, if slightly dated in some areas, the militia are rarely equipped with anything that would let them fight even Alliance marines on an even level.

Largely viewed of as fodder intended to discourage pirate raids, or to delay an invader until Army units can respond, morale amongst militia units tends to be extremely low as its members are more than aware of their life-expectancy in combat.

 _The SIU_

An all-volunteer Black-Ops force, the SIU is renowned across the galaxy for its brutal training regimen and equally brutal tactics. Formed to counter STG penetration into the Hegemony during the Golden Age, the group quickly expanded its mandate to also include assassinations of Asari attempting to co-opt the Batarian economy and counter-strikes against Asari commandos trying to disrupt the slave trade.

There is no formal set of equipment for an SIU member, each Batarian is allowed to work with his most proficient weapons type, and then assigned to a squad that could utilize that talent. Most teams consist of between five to ten individuals with overlapping skill sets. During the Golden Age, the few Batarian Spectres were exclusively drawn from the SIU's ranks, their brutal practicality working well in that role.

While not at the level of dedicated Asari commandos, most SIU teams are considered at least an equal match for similar Turian formations. Alliance N7 teams are often at a numerical disadvantage thanks to their smaller unit sizes, and unless trained specifically to fight against the SIU can be extremely vulnerable the terror tactics involved.

* * *

 _For Batarian warships, I'm drawing inspiration from the Terran Alliance ships in the Firestorm Armada universe by Spartan Games in terms of appearance (Especially the Cruisers)._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	17. The Hegemony: History Part I

I don't own the Mass Effect

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 **Batarian Hegemony Section 5: Rise and Fall of the Hegemony Part I**

 **The Formation and Exploration Eras (** 1519-1701 CE **)**

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 **Formation Era**

 _The Desert Confederation_

1519-1622 CE

The history of the Batarian Hegemony began seven centuries ago, during Khar'shan's Third World War. Originally a regional conflict between a pair of coastal nations, their neighbors were quickly drawn into the chaotic affair. Unrestricted warfare by both major alliances saw additional factions form on the other continents, backing one side or the other as the conflict grew.

While Khar'shan's 'First World' occupied itself fighting a vicious war of attrition, the poorer inland nations warily watched on as they exhausted every effort to not become involved. Largely successful in this goal, little changed until the rise of _Szhoc'tinnan_ Kellia Del'thran. A seemingly average highborn merchant from a small, resource poor nation, he was an extremely devout man who firmly believed in the religion of the Pillars.

Using every favor owed to his family, and nearly every coin in their treasury, he was able to gather several _Ha'diq_ from other lesser realms to the ancient site of the Pillars themselves for a grand conference. With the objects of their worship as his backdrop, he gave an impassioned speech, working his way through the relevance of each Pillar to maximize his words' effects. Though no transcriptions of his speech remain, it is known that his final sentences were spoken against the backdrop of the Pillar of Power, reminding his audience that no true Batarian was ever satisfied with their own strength.

Eight months later, the 'Confederation of Desert Tribes' struck north, following several of the major river-deltas. The coastal nations, exhausted from their decade long struggle, ceded hundreds of miles of territory as they struggled to comprehend what was happening. Most saw the writing on the wall, quickly reaching out to Del'thran and cutting deals to insure their place in the new order, while a small handful held on to the end or fled over the oceans to the other, less populated, continents.

Despite the insistence of many of the warrior _Ha'diq_ to quickly pursue their prey, Del'thran reigned in his allies. While the war had gone more successfully than even his wildest dreams, it had still taken more than three years of fighting to reach the coastline. Worse, the wealthiest and most fertile lands on the continent had largely been consumed by war, with the lower-castes in particular no longer having the stomach to sustain more conflict. While he personally wished to continue, the lower castes had power in numbers and their desire for war had ended.

Rather than risk a civil war he was sure he would lose, Del'thran opted to secure their new gains and fortify the major coastal cities, accepting that the unification of Khar'shan would fall to his descendents rather than to him. Needless to say his decision was not a popular one amongst the other highborn, particularly to his rivals who had hoped that he would personally lead the fight overseas, and ideally would die there. Del'thran proved up to the political challenge, combining both his faith and new-found tactical acumen to secure his position.

Artisan priests of every caste were summoned to his side, then dispatched to rally the lower and midcastes to his vision of a unified nation, with a heavy emphasis on how it would be created with a heavy consideration towards the Pillar's words. At the same time, members of his family armed with coin quietly began hiring large numbers of displaced veterans and guerrilla fighters, The most capable of which were named _Harath'krem_ and given cadres before being sent to 'guard' many of his political rivals.

The combination of public pressure from the lower castes, particularly amongst their own armies, and the open threat given by his personal warriors largely quelled any early attempt at rebellion, allowing Del'thran to spend the next two decades organizing his new nation.

 _The Confederation and the Fourth World War_

The new Confederation was, essentially, the direct precursor to the Hegemony, but was far more feudal in nature. The Del'thran House's Patriarch reigned as the _Cia_ _Ha'diq_ , with the continents former nations divided into provinces each controlled by a lesser house. Some were the same houses who had first joined him at the Pillars, others those that had surrendered early during the war, and yet more were former Harath'krem allowed to create their Houses in thanks for their service.

Rebuilding took nearly forty years, punctuated by brief naval clashes and coastal raids as the other nations on the world quickly formed into their own super-alliances for protection. Far more fractious than the Confederation, they were still a potent threat when their members were able to act in unison.

The Fourth World War, also referred to as the Founding War, began when the Heshenna Alliance launched a massive invasion of the Confederation's western shores, hoping to secure the massive oil deposits there. Re'ha Del'thran, grandson of Kellia, quickly launched counter-assaults that isolated the beachhead but his armies were unable to completely throw back the invaders.

Much like his ancestor, he and his generals elected to follow the Pillar of Power's wisdom. Assembling their entire warfleet, along with every transport and cargo ship they could locate, they set sail due north and made as if to invade the until then neutral power ruled by Nythal Shaaryak. While a _Szhoc'tinnan_ of some renown in his homelands, Shaaryak was first and foremost a businessman. He had little interest in warfare that wasn't economic, and less taste for anything that would damage his markets. So when an apparently massive invasion force appeared to be heading directly for his capital, he quickly contacted the southern government to strike a deal.

For their part, the Confederation's leadership were nearly rendered delirious by their own success. The ships they had dispatched had only skeleton crews aboard, and their transports road high with empty cargo holds. Every available member of the warrior caste was already committed to battle, while they had planned on their bluff working none had truly expected it to.

After promising Shaaryak that the Merchant caste would have a high place of power in the new government, Del'thran recalled his false invasion force and coordinated with the military leaders of Shaaryak's nation. Rather than risk their deception being discovered before their allies were committed to the fight, they persuaded Shaaryak's warrior caste to strike directly at Heshenna. While the war dragged on for another six years, the outcome was never truly in doubt from that point onwards. By 1596 CE, the last holdouts had fallen, and the new government was taking shape.

 _Creation of the Hegemony_

The Hegemony was officially born in 1601 CE, with Batarian Calenders marking it as Year 0 to recognize the new beginning. Highborn councils were called into session to help organize the reconstruction effort, particularly on Heshenna, while the first Patriarch's Council met in the Confederation's capital to formally nominate the first Hegemon.

To the shock of the lower castes, Nythal Shaaryak was nominated by Re'ha Del'thran, and quickly received a unanimous vote of approval from the other councils. Part of this was a political maneuver, Shaaryak had been slow to forgive his allies after discovering that they had thoroughly tricked him, and being the first leader of a unified Batarian people had flattered his pride to the point where he allowed the slight to slide. Another was more personal, Re'ha was physically exhausted from the war and had little remaining patience to deal with politics. While he accepted a place on the Patriarch's Council, he also refused the post of High Patriarch, instead placing his long-time friend Ghial Yethenari in that role.

For a Batarian of his rank to willingly turn down the offer of more power was essentially unheard of, and gave him an aura of eccentricity that would define his legacy. To this day the Del'thran House is considered odd by most Batarians, its members usually viewed as eccentric at best, and decidedly mad at worst.

The first few years of the new planetary government were largely spent looking inwards, repairing the massive infrastructural damage caused by the wars. One of the major complications were the remaining _Ha'diq_ , who were loathe to cede any of their power to the new government. While Shaaryak did make some efforts to reign them in, largely to increase his new office's authority, but with Del'thran largely withdrawing from public life he found himself with few allies against the powerful voting blocks that supported the Warlords.

While on paper the new Hegemony controlled all of Khar'shan, the maintenance of the Confederation's _Ha'diq_ ruled provinces left it with little authority in that territory, and only a tenuous direct control over Shaaryak's own former alliance. Only on the war-torn continent of Heshenna was its authority absolute. Nearly every Highborn alive at the time agreed that the system was unworkable in the long-term, but in the short-term it provided a means of keeping the peace until their fragile planet could be repaired enough. A Fifth World War between the new Hegemony and the _Ha'diq_ only tacitly loyal to it was entirely expected, and likely would have happened if not for a few select members of the Scientist caste.

* * *

 **Exploration Era**

 _The Space Age_

1622-1701 CE

While the merchant dominated Hegemony bickered with the warrior lead _Ha'diq_ , the scientist caste had loftier goals. Providing only the barest tithes of its membership to research weapons as demanded by the others, the Highborn Council focused all of its efforts and resources on a new type of technology.

In 1622, the first satellite was placed into orbit, an achievement quickly followed the next year with the first man into space. The monuments occasions gave the Scientists all of the public supported they needed, with the Laborer's and Artisan's Highborn councils quickly throwing their support behind the idea that the Batarian people could expand beyond Khar'shan. After Nythal Shaaryak's natural death in 1634, the Patriarch's Council nominated Cathar Thortyaan from the Scientist caste.

Many of the _Ha'diq_ and _Szhoc'tinnan_ likely hoped that the Scientist would be easy to control, instead they were annoyed to realize that they had just handed power to a man who had no regard for either of their positions. Wielding his political alliance between the three 'lesser' castes like a war-hammer, he initially acted as though he was allied with the Merchants by massively expanding the Hegemony's military and investing heavily in new military technology. The advent of Fission bombs, combined with missile technology, firmly cemented the Hegemony's control over the warlords.

The merchants, flush with victory, made several proposals to enhance their own position, only to be sent reeling when Thortyaan not only dismissed their opinions, but also vastly lowered the amount of power the various Highborn councils had. Instead cementing more and more authority into the office of the Hegemon.

Using his new power, he directed nearly the entire planetary economy into his true dream of long-term space exploration. Not satisfied with a short visit to Khar'shan's largest moon in 1639, a dozen more expeditions quickly followed until the settlement of the first lunar colony in 1643. Plans for fly-bys of the system's other worlds in order to evaluate long-term space exposure to astronauts quickly followed, while a hoard of unmanned probes resulting in the entire society coming to a stupefied halt in 1671 when a fly-by of the gas giant Verush's largest moon revealed the alien ruins on its surface.

 _The Mass Effect_

Buried into the side of a lunar mountain was the shattered remains of a Prothean military outpost. More important than even the knowledge that they weren't alone in the galaxy were the wreckage of several freighters and the aft-half of a War Frigate that were eventually found in the extensive hanger complex. With next to no information left in the shattered computer banks, and not understanding the strange Prothean communications beacon found in what was left of the control center, the scientist caste focused almost entirely on the ships.

Nearly sixty years of painstaking trial and error with the tiny amounts of eezo they had available were required before they had a reasonable grasp of the strange element's properties. A decade later they had constructed their first interstellar ship out of the wreckage.

The resulting ship, the _Pillar of Knowledge_ , wasn't a pretty or especially efficient vessel, but it ably served as an exploration ship for nearly forty years. Loaded down with the most advanced survey equipment that the Scientist Caste could create at the time, it would jump into a nearby system and unload dozens of probes to hunt for traces of Eezo, then leave for the next system. It would return months or even years later to get the results. While not a fast process, eventually additional eezo was painstakingly mined from tiny deposits, enough to build several additional ships.

During one of the _Pillar of Knowledge's_ later runs, the crew was stunned at the amount of eezo that their robotic drones had discovered in a star system. Initially dreaming of the wealth that the haul would provide them, the discovery of a Mass Relay further threw them off. What Batarian history refers to as the 'Great Debate' began in 1695 between Hegemon Vytal Thortyaan and High Patriarch Kesh Mat'Ha over what to do with the artifact. While the Hegemon wanted to try and activate it, the High Patriarch preferred to try and dismantle it to gain a better understanding of the device.

The decision was rendered moot when, during an exploratory attempt to pry open the Relay, the crew accidentally activated the Relay and hurled the _Pillar of Knowledge_ half way to the galactic rim. It took the confused men and women onboard several weeks to figure out how to activate the Relay on their side, returning to a still divided Khar'shan. While the Hegemon was ecstatic, to the point of forcing through the elevation of Captain Shik Balak's midcaste family to the ranks of the Highborn, many amongst the Patriarch's Council were deeply suspicious of the 'accident' that had ended the three year debate in the Hegemon's favor. Despite never being able to prove any wrongdoing on the part of the crew or the vessel's Captain, it caused a deep divide between the House leaders and the elected Hegemon, a political tension that would last into the next era.

* * *

 **Next Chapter will be History Part II: The Expansion and Golden Eras**

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

Thanks, Kat


	18. The Hegemony: History Part II

I don't own the Mass Effect

* * *

 **Batarian Hegemony Section 5: Rise and Fall of the Hegemony Part II**

* * *

 **Expansion Era**

1701-1915 CE

 _Founding of the Inner Colonies_

With the opening of the Mass Relays, the exodus of the Batarian people from Khar'shan and into the galaxy at large began. The expansion was, by and large a Highborn driven affair, principally led by the _Ha'diq_ or those who desired greater power than they could find on their homeworld. While it would prove, in the long term to be crippling in terms of the Hegemony's overall unity, the benefits at the time seemed to outweigh any potential drawbacks.

Rather than the chaotic expansion favored by the Krogan or Salarians, or the corporate and governmental sponsorship that saw new Human or Volus colonies founded, nearly every major Batarian colony can trace its founding to a single wealthy Highborn House. As such individuals were not about to allow their personal power to be infringed by being dependent on Khar'shan for resources, self-sufficiency became a goal pursued with relentless tenacity. Colony ships were built, bought, and sold at rapid rates as families financed them, utilized them, and then recouped their losses by selling them to others once they had transitioned their household and followers.

Unfortunately for many of the prospective Highborn, it quickly became clear that the nearest star clusters easily reached all showed heavy signs of prior habitation and extensive mining operations. Whether by the Protheans or another species, Science-Caste archeologists could not tell, but the end result was the same. There was little to no element zero to be had in anything but trace amounts, and many of the rare heavy earths had likewise been reduced to limited levels.

It remains a point of Batarian pride that they were able to expand so quickly and successfully despite having fewer raw materials than nearly any other species. Expansion and growth continued at a steady pace throughout the 1700s, eventually creating what was then the 'Near-Expansion Zone' (Now referred to as the 'Inner Colonial Region'). Compromised of nearly a hundred populated worlds, moons, and dwarf-planets spread out across three stellar clusters. Nearly all of them could count their population in the hundreds, or low thousands, but those established earlier on in the process had begun to grow at exponential rates.

By 1802, the political crisis precipitated by the largest and oldest colonies not having any reliance on Khar'shan, and thus no real reason to obey the Hegemon or the Hegemony's ruling councils, reached critical mass.

 _The Re-Founding_

The Hegemony had been ruled by a Science-Caste Hegemon and all but ruled by the same caste's High Council for nearly two centuries, and the side-effects had long begun to show. Obsessed with technological progress and long-term exploration, there had been only token efforts to transition the Hegemony's navy from Khar'shan's oceans to the stars above. The merchant-caste members who might have once orchestrated the payment of such warships were more interested in seeking out their own riches in the colonial region, and the warrior-caste who predicted a catastrophe lacked the economic know-how to do it themselves.

The Hegemony might still have had a massive and advanced army on Khar'shan, but without warships and transports in vast numbers it was powerless to do anything but police the few remaining _Ha_ ' _diq_ who had elected to remain and seize more power to themselves while their rivals left. While work did begin on constructive projects in 1801, along with draconian laws concerning the movement of eezo, it was too little too late for then Hegemon Kathadiel Balak. A no-confidence vote begun by the laborer-caste's high council was nearly unanimous, with only his own caste defending him. Publicly humiliated by being stripped of the highest position of power, Balak committed suicide in the center of the Pillars of Strength less than a week later.

The new Hegemon was the first and only Laborer to be given the role, Ghild Morth'ik, who had spent most of his life managing the shipyards both on Khar'shan's surface and the larger complexes in orbit. A quiet and stoic man, his nomination by High Patriarch Hsehn Shaaryak had been an unpleasant surprise to him. While he naturally accepted, no highborn would have turned such power when offered, he had no interest in playing political games and made that clear in a terse acceptance speech that lasted barely a minute.

Caring only about efficiency and cold practicality, he created the classification concept in regards to the colonies, as well as bringing a new meaning to the title of _Ha'diq._ Those House Patriarchs who rejoined the Hegemony without a fight would find themselves appointed the title for life, and given fiat to rule over their worlds provided they obey Hegemony law. Perhaps half of the colonies, largely the smaller ones run by midcaste houses, agreed, but the majority of the oldest colonies scoffed at the very idea. He was offering them no power that they did not already have, and shackling them to a world they needed nothing from.

After waiting a polite amount of time, the Hegemon elected to make an example of the largest target. A dozen exploration ships, their holds filled with nuclear missiles, and nearly as many colony vessels filled to the brim with soldiers, arrived above House Jirathan's colony of Khar'thorlre. Offering no demands, they boarded and seized the few vessels in orbit, and then began their bombardment. Those few who survived the nuclear holocaust unleashed were hunted down and brutally killed by the soldiers who landed in the aftermath, with every facet of the event recorded.

Upon being sent the videos, the remaining colonial Patriarchs quickly agreed to Moth'ik's proposed adjustments to the Hegemony's government, and the modern Hegemony was born.

 _First Contact_

One of the more unusual aspects of Batarian history was that their first contact wasn't with one of the Citadel's member states, as with every other space-faring species, but rather with Asari pirates operating out of the Traverse. While the Hegemony wasn't overly surprised at the notion that there was alien life out there, they had assumed as much given the Prothean ruins they had found and the evidence of mining, the capabilities of the aliens still came as a nasty shock.

For their part, the Asari group was having a field day. Batarian ships were lightly armed, if at all, and while their cargo was often simple it was exotic enough to fetch huge prices on Omega. If anything, their colonial raiding, once the Hegemony colonies near the galactic rim were discovered, was even more successful. The proud Batarians shocked and horrified what the 'tiny blue females' were capable of with both their biotics and their weaponry.

Had the pirates been vassal to a Warlord other than Raik Vol, Battlemaster of Omega, the Hegemony might have succumbed entirely to an unending swarm of pirates and cutthroats looking to exploit the young nation. But Vol, by his nature, was a thinker and long-term planner. The notion of a new species whose nation could counter-act the increasingly irritating moves of the Salarian Union pleased him, and his conversations with slaves brought to Omega by the Asari revealed a race who prized strength and power.

For the first and last time as master of Omega, Raik Vol departed Omega with much of his warfleet, including both of his dreadnoughts. Following the course plotted by the lesser pirates, he traversed along the side of the galaxy before his war-fleet burst into existence above Khar'shan itself. From the ultimate position of strength, the old Krogan then dictated the terms of trade that would now exist between the Hegemony and Omega.

The Hegemony would trade with no one but Omega, would give him a tithe of soldiers to serve in his army, and the same of warships once the Hegemony could construct them. In exchange, the lords of Khar'shan would be able to buy eezo, more of it than they'd ever dreamed possible, would be sold technology to reverse-engineer, and Asari commandos would assist the Batarians in their experiments to create and train biotics of their own.

This arrangement was accepted, somewhat bitterly by the Hegemony, and left a lasting bruise on the Batarian psyche. The warrior-caste in particular plummeted in terms of cultural prestige given their utter inability to defend their homeworld against the forces arrayed against it. But while the deal itself was heavily resented, the following sixty years were ones of unrestrained growth. The Merchants slowly reclaimed their power, becoming the premier caste as the nation's wealth exploded. Eezo and rare resources flowed in from the Terminus, while simple but rugged construction flowed back out from the Hegemony's factories.

More important were the shipyards built above Khar'shan and the elder colonies, constructing the first warships for the nation. The commissioning of each vessel was treated as a national event, their names imprinted on the public psyche of every caste and ranking.

After the first decade's worth of construction, the fleet was strong enough to prevent further pirate raids against Khar'shan itself. With that harassment removed, construction proceeded apace. Within forty years of the treaty being signed, the Hegemony found itself with sufficient strength to repel all but the most severe raids and powerful enough to renegotiate the terms of their subservience with Raik Vol.

Already humiliated by his failure to protect his attempt to create a Quarian client state on Xentha, Raik Vol attempted to repeat his gunboat diplomacy by punishing the Hegemony for its defiance.

* * *

 **Golden Era**

1915-1983 CE

 _The Omega - Khar'shan War_

The resultant combat was short but brutal, with neither faction obeying any recognizable rules of war. While the Hegemony's fleet lacked the raw firepower or experience of the Krogan Warlord's, they had a massive advantage in smaller craft, particularly cruisers. Further, Aria T'Loak, ostensibly Vol's chief lieutenant, continuously fed them information throughout the conflict, allowing the Hegemony to retreat from Vol's dreadnoughts and engage his weaker forces instead.

While more than a dozen Class B colonies were essentially razed, and severe damage dealt to several Class A worlds, Khar'shan itself escaped any real damage. The Artisan and Warrior castse both rose heavily in political power, fueled by the former's inspiring rhetoric and the latter's military successes. Further, the war acted a unifying factor, many of the still rebellious colonies falling in line when confronted with an external enemy.

But while the Hegemony had reasserted itself as an independent regional power, the conflict had also made their existence known to the Citadel Council, who up until that point had assumed that Vol's new slaves were a primitive race that he was exploiting.

 _The Embassy is Opened_

'Official' first contact with the Council's member states came when a Citadel Exploration vessel, working from coordinates stolen from Terminus ships, followed official procedure to open a new Relay leading from Turian space to the then corners of the Hegemony. Attempting to dictate terms only insulted the locals, with the Hegemon going so far as to arrest the vessel's Turian captain and holding him ransom while a Hegemony vessel traversed the relay to conduct his own negotiations.

While they were rather taken aback by the move, the Citadel eventually offered a formal apology for the 'heavy-handed language' that was 'not intended to cause insult'. The Batarians quickly noted that the Turian councilor had refused to sign it, and were informed that the Hierarchy had had to be threatened with embargoes to prevent them from launching an invasion of Khar'shan to reclaim the hostage. When a Batarian ambassador from the Artisan caste asked said councilor if she thought her forces could take the home-world, she disdainfully replied that there wouldn't be anything left to take once her people had finished razing it to the ground.

The Salarians and Asari were aghast, and attempted to perform political damage control, only to be unpleasantly surprised when the Batarians promptly released the Captain and his crew, and requested to open an embassy on Palaven while all but ignoring their own overtures. The resulting trade agreements between the Hierarchy and Hegemony took several years to work out, but allowed the Volus who managed the Turian economy to reverse nearly a century of Asari-Salarian caused damage.

The Hegemony embassy on the Citadel was opened in 1925 CE, though it was not without its own conflicts. The Batarian practice of sentencing criminals to terms of enslavement was a major conflict with the general Asari, Elcor, and Turian populations, and also against Citadel law. Their counter-argument that assigning law-breakers to prisons or penal legions was worse, or at least, not better, got the Hegemony nowhere, and they were eventually forced to agree to several disadvantageous trade deals in exchange for a special dispensation to maintain their slaves.

 _The Szhoc'tinnan Rise_

The following fifty-eight years saw the greatest growth and stability in the Hegemony's history. Eezo and rare-materials finally began to flow in sufficient strength that Khar'shan and the Class A colonies could provide the midcaste with luxuries once reserved for the Highborn. The first dreadnoughts were built and launched as the fleet grew exponentially. New designs were drawn up with Turian assistance, and new classes were launched on an almost yearly basis.

For many years the greatest issue that the Hegemony had was its far lower population in comparison to the three Citadel nations. Females of every ranking were awarded heavily for having multiple children to the point where women began to accumulate then unheard of personal wealth and power. The polygamous standard that, until that point, been rather common began to break down as Batarian women proved to be just as vicious as their men when it came to holding onto power that they thought of as theirs. Back-alley fights between hired thugs and assassins on both sides were kept quiet, but no one missed the fact that women began to publicly act in fashions that would have been unthinkable decades prior. It was during this era that marriage became little more than a political contract, with females becoming just as free to pursue their own affairs as males.

While their women were improving their lot at home, the Merchant caste's Highborn were reviving an ancient tradition. Taking the titles of _Szhoc'tinnan,_ those who could afford to do so began competing with one another for prestige and wealth. Great trade fleets were assembled and sent forth, most often to the Republics where Hegemony products were considered endearingly exotic and fetched high prices. The technological wonders of the Asari that were purchased and brought home in exchange did their own work at assisting the Hegemony's technological growth as the Science-Caste reverse-engineered them.

But as the century continued, and the Merchants began to dominate the position of Hegemon thanks to their new-found popularity, the cracks began to appear in the foundation. And in 1983, when Aria T'loak overthrew Raik Vol and caustically named him her Patriarch, the Hegemony's situation changed entirely.

* * *

 _Next up we'll finish the Hegemony's history, covering the time from Aria's rise to the modern era._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

Thanks, Kat


	19. The Hegemony: History Part III

I don't own the Mass Effect

* * *

 **Batarian Hegemony Section 5: Rise and Fall of the Hegemony Part III**

* * *

 **Collapsing Era**

1983-2165 CE

 _Aria's Rise_

Problems began to accumulate for the Hegemony rather rapidly after Aria seized control of Omega. The immediate reaction from the Citadel Council was an end to the careful détente they had managed with Raik Vol, and a cessation of all official trading with Omega's violent new ruler and her openly hostile attitude towards the Citadel.

This maneuver drew a storm of protest from the Hegemony, who relied heavily on the flow of eezo from that region of space in order to maintain their economy and current fleet construction efforts. In a closed vote, the Council dictated that no exception would be made, and that the Hegemony would have to begin trading with Asari and Volus corporations or face censures. The Hegemon who had personally come to the Citadel to attempt to influence the vote, predictably exploded with rage.

Volus groups could only provide limited amounts, as the majority of their eezo deposits were sold to the Hierarchy. And while Asari organizations could handle the volume needed, they charged four times as much as Aria, rates that would force the Hegemony to accept crippling debts to the Republics. In a public rant to the Councilor's faces, he called the Asari out specifically for 'releasing' Illium as an independent colony specifically to evade their own laws, and all but dared the Citadel to declare war upon the Hegemony.

The final humiliation for Councilor T'Shan came with the Turian Councilor began to applaud upon the conclusion of the Hegemon's speech, and broke with centuries of tradition by publically revealing that he had voted against the measure for the exact reasons that the Hegemon had stated. The political storm unleashed did not abate even after a redrafted law was passed in an open vote, this one allowing the Hegemony to maintain the eezo trade with Omega in specific volumes.

But while the Turians and Batarians walked away having won the battle, in the long term they had already lost the war.

 _The Shadow War_

The so-called Shadow War began in 1985 CE, and continued until the Hegemony Civil War in 2104 CE. While never a public affair, in the dark places of the galaxy Nightwind and STG teams engaged in brutal combat against SIU groups trained by the elite Turian Deathwatch, while Spectres of all four races engaged in backroom violence as they sabotaged each other's missions.

For the most part, this fighting occurred in the near reaches of the Traverse. The primary trade lanes from Khar'shan to Omega ran through this area of space, and was within easy striking distance of the Salarian Union. The Salarians had never been comfortable with the notion of two powerful, militant races being on the Council, and heavily stepped up their efforts to sabotage the Hegemony. Popular and competent Highborn were quietly assassinated, unprotected freighters would mysteriously vanish, and Batarian shipyards would suffer from constant delays as sabotage.

The Hegemony retaliated as best it could, but in the early years the SIU was a new and haphazard organization. It would be nearly two decades before its members could be considered on par with the STG agents they operated against, and by then the majority of the damage had been done. Worse, their allies in the Hierarchy were hesitant about providing any overt assistance, limiting their aid to training and what trade their economy could offer.

The reason for this lack of aid was largely due to the Asari. They had begun their own efforts at home, passing increasingly harsh laws to limit trade with the Hegemony. On the surface these were due to the Hegemony's practice of slavery and it's generally misogynist attitude. Concentrated political campaigns waged over decades built up increasing distrust for the natives of Khar'shan, particularly amongst the 'lesser' races; the Elcor and Volus.

But many of these opinions began to filter into the Hierarchy, and the naturally blunt Batarians found themselves rapidly losing the battle of public opinion. Worse, their better and more personable diplomats were increasingly seduced, or outright killed, by Nightwind teams within days of leaving Khar'shan. Batarian efforts to bring the Shadow War in to the light proved useless as the Republics and Union effortlessly manipulated media outlets to make their claims seem like nothing but raving conspiracy theories, opinions seconded by exiled Batarians who often possessed Asari bondmates.

By 2087, the Hegemony's economy was beginning to seriously labor. It had been heavily focused on trading exports to the Citadel nations in order to bring in the raw materials their resource-poor star clusters desperately needed, and as those trade routes were closed the Merchant caste struggled to adjust. They began quietly violating Council laws by increasing trade with Aria, Halak, Cessa, and several other major warlords in order to cease bleeding hard currency

A Salarian Spectre discovered these new operations in 2097, and this time the Turians were far less willing to back their ally when the Council ordered the Hegemony to cease all trade with the Terminus or face a total embargo. The Hegemon's attempts to stall for time and negotiate at least limited options went nowhere, and the embargo went into place in 2098.

Khar'shan's economy managed to stumble along for three years thanks to a heavy increase in trade with the Terminus and Traverse, but that chaotic region of space simply couldn't offer as many markets for Batarian goods, or to export the rare materials in the quantities needed to maintain production levels.

The eezo trade with Aria began to slow as the Hegemony ran low on the hard currency she demanded, with the merchant caste being forced to continually cut back on imports until there was barely a trickle of the critical material making the long trip along the galactic rim. The Hegemony's economy officially crashed into a depression in 2103, as nearly half of the nation's military yards were forced to cease construction due to a derth of eezo. The chain reaction spread to other industries reliant on eezo, promethium, and other rare earths that were no long available in sufficient quantities to maintain production levels.

 _The Hegemony Civil War_

As millions of lowborn and midcaste suddenly found themselves out of work, the situation began to deteriorate further as blame was flung between the various Highborn families. _Ha'diq_ and Patriarchs began to divide along factional lines as the political movements of the day hardened into tight alliances.

These myriad groups eventually aligned into two distinct groups. One defending the Hierarchy's government and pushing for an increased effort in expanding into the Traverse and Terminus. Supported largely by Khar'shan's population and those living on the smaller colonies, they were highly organized but held only a third of the warrior's castes members.

The other believed that it was the Hierarchy itself that had failed, and that the Batarian people would be better ruled by the _Ha'diq_ alone, with no need for petty councilors or Hegemon. As could be expected, the majority of their strength came from the Class A colonies, where often hereditary _Ha'diq_ had had centuries to influence public perception and to build up resentment towards Khar'shan's bugling and interference. To them, a dispersed Batarian species would better honor the Pillar's wisdom, with the strong surviving and the weak falling on their own merits rather than being influenced by a distant Hegemon.

War officially broke out in 2104, when five _Ha'diq_ allied with one another and struck at Khar'shan's shipyards in the hopes of taking the capital out of the fight before the war even began. Thanks to a timely warning from a loyalist SIU team, the Hegemony Fleet was able to beat back the strike, but not without taking heavy losses. Hoping to replicate the quick victory that Khar'shan had secured against the early separatists, they quickly followed up their strike with counter-attacks, likely hoping to bombard the colonies into submission.

Unfortunately, this time the colonies were prepared for such a maneuver. Deep bunkers beneath colonial cities kept large numbers of the population alive, and heavy GTS defenses shredded frigates and cruises that approached too close to the worlds.

With that effort cut short, emboldened _Ha'diq_ across Batarian space began to strike at other loyalist worlds, at each other, and even at nearby Salarian colonies. The Citadel wasted no time in establishing a heavy blockade of relays leading to the Hegemony, none of its members offering aid or succor to either faction.

The following seventeen years saw the most brutal combat since the krogan rebellions, with neither side offering nor giving mercy in the traditional Batarian fashion for combat. By 2115 the war had largely turned in favor of Khar'shan, the infighting amongst the _Ha'diq_ having crippled them beyond their ability to properly deal with the homeworld's armies and fleets, but it would be another six long years before the war officially concluded.

* * *

 **Cold War Era**

2121 – 2180 CE

 _Political Isolation Begins_

In many ways, the Hegemony has still not recovered from the war that occurred at the turn of the century. Even after sixty years of reconstruction, its population remains twenty percent below pre-war levels, its fleet is a mere forty percent of its former goliath size, and more than fifty colonies have yet to be reclaimed, their irradiated and broken cities standing mute testament to the power of modern weaponry.

By the war's end, the political landscape had changed once again thanks to a down decade for the Turian economy that left them further indebted to Asari Matriarchs. Feeling magnanimous, and no longer fearing the broken nation, the Asari Councilor joined her Turian counterpart in rescinding the blockade and a few of the trade restrictions provided that the Batarians limit their trade with Omega.

With their homeworld scoured by long range bombardment, and their most prosperous colonies little more than rubble, the proud Batarians were forced to grit their teeth and accept the demands in order to acquire what help they could. Always intended as a temporary measure, the various Hegemon continuously resisted requests or demands that sought to more heavily bind them to the Citadel.

Any hope of reconciliation with the Turians died in the years after the war, as Palavan increasingly became the target of Batarian ire for not properly assisting them in the years prior to the war. For their own part, the Turians became increasingly dismissive of Khar'shan, wondering what they had ever seen in the nation. If it could be driven to collapse so easily, it would never have been truly capable of assisting them politically after all.

While the Hegemony maintained their embassy, in many ways they were already an unaffiliated nation. The last Batarian sponsored law was passed in 2132, and the last Batarian Spectre was appointed in 2137. After that point the post of ambassador became little more than a paid vacation for a member of the Hegemon's family, the focus of the nation turning entirely inwards as they rebuilt.

 _The theft of the Verge_

Hope, a rare thing on Khar'shan, began to spread wildly with the discovery of a new stellar cluster in the near reaches of the Traverse. Hegemony sponsored explorers quickly began to identify garden worlds ripe for colonization, while asteroids and other barren objects loaded with raw materials were cataloged for mining. Millions of valuable credits were poured into the initial surveying programs and to pay for official Citadel exploration vessels to assist the Hegemony's fleet.

These operations were temporarily put on hold when reports surfaced that a new species had been discovered almost on top of the Hegemony, and that they were even then at war with the Hierarchy. Intrigued by this new development, the young Hegemon Nish Cal'ran of the Warrior caste paid close attention to the news and rumors until official first contact was made following the Asari's intervention in the fight.

During the years of diplomacy that followed, the Hegemony was as an active player as they were capable of being. Humanity was, in many ways, an even more acceptable partner than the Turians had been. The very short relay transitions required to reach Alliance space would make trading an exceedingly simple and entirely safe affair, and both nations could protect each other's flanks against any predation.

Unfortunately for the Batarians, Humanity proved to be both greedy and far more enamored with their new saviors than with the 'four eyed slavers'. Alliance corporations almost immediately began unauthorized colonization efforts into the Skyllian Verge, entirely ignoring the message buoys that Batarian ships had left behind indicated that the worlds were already claimed.

The Hegemony responded predictably and furiously, razing four nescient colonies to the ground and charging the inhabitants with illegal colonization under both Citadel and Hegemony law. But while the Council agreed that laws had been broken, the Hegemony's decision to punish them in the Batarian fashion; terms of slavery, created a brand new political shit storm.

That the Hegemony had legitimate claims to the region was promptly tossed aside and ignored by the Council as they accused the Batarians of government sponsored slaving. Khar'shan's request that the Verge be declared Batarian territory, and that the Alliance be censured, was thrown out after mere minutes of discussion. Instead the human demands that the enslaved colonists be released and returned to their homes, a tactic declaration that those worlds were now human territory was passed, giving the Hegemon an ultimatum.

With Turians still irritable about the First Contact War passing covert messages to his advisors, he quickly realized that his mission was doomed. The humans intended to declare war if their demands were not met, and the Asari and Salarians had agreed to dispatch the Council Fleet to support them if it came to that. In the final hours before the vote, Hegemon Cal'ran was seen quietly walking the presidium, speaking to no one. He ceased his wanderings only once, pausing to offer a single salute to Krogan monument before heading to the Council chambers for the final time.

In a final effort to save face, he attempted to propose that humanity at least repay the Highborn merchants who has sponsored the exploration of the Verge. Ambassador Goyle, recognizing that she held all of the cards, refused before he could even finish his presentation.

Knowing that his nation's military, while assuredly capable of crushing humanity's limited forces, would be overwhelmed by the combined Citadel Fleet, he bowed to the inevitable and released the slaves taken. While hundreds of new groups arrived in the Verge to cover the colonists's release, the Hegemon quietly ordered the embassies on the Citadel and Palavan to be abandoned, and for all Hegemon citizens to return home.

Showing that they were not entirely without sympathy, the Hierarchy's navy assisted heavily in returning expatriates to the Hegemony's borders, in many cases ignoring direct orders from the Citadel Fleet to explain their movements. Within a year the population of Batarians within Council space had plummeted from tens of thousands to a tiny handful of exiles, and the Hegemony officially closed their borders.

 _Current Affairs_

Cal'ran finished his tenure as Hegemon by giving a final, impassioned speech on the Hegemony's official media platform. Warning the Batarian people to never trust that the Citadel's races would treat their people with honor, or even obey their own laws, he shifted his words to those of a sermon from the Pillars of Strength, preparing them mentally for the difficult times that would come.

The day after he officially declared the Hegemony alone in the galaxy, he officially resigned for failing his oath to secure the Skyllian Verge. The stately young highborn thanked the assembled Patriarchs before quietly departing. Making his way alone to the Pillars of Strength in the heart of the capital, he followed ancient tradition and committed suicide surrounded by the towering columns.

With his death, the political situation began to unravel. The traditionalist alliance that had propelled him into power began to fracture, too many of its members having exhausted their resources in preparation for colonizing territory that was no long open to them. The violently anti-human Fist of Khar'shan quickly grew alongside the isolationist and conservative movements and formed a new voting bloc that, while unable to breach the rationalists hold on the labor and science castes, or the liberals who came to power in the warrior's councils, was able to heavily influence Hegemony policy for the next several decades.

But just as quickly as they rose, these groups began to collapse as the Hegemony's situation worsened rather than improved. The Blitz failed to push humanity out, and other state sponsored pirates served only to give humanity combat experience and heavily drain Khar'shan's treasury.

As 2180 dawned, the Hegemony remained a pale, crippled shadow of its former glory. Still proud, still capable of dragging an attacker down with them, but also tired, with a broken government and a people increasingly divided amongst themselves.

* * *

 _And we're finally finished with the hegemony, next up will be the Quarians of the Terminus and Xentha._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

Thanks, Kat


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